| Cool post. The partial, blotchy hybrids have always confused me. They appear to be chimeras with genetically distinct areas combined into one fruit body. Initially I was thinking it could be just spontaneous mutation of a cell early in the mushroom development, but it happens to often for a random mutation of a specific trait.
Unlike animal cells, the cells that compose fertile mushroom mycelium are dikaryotic (two nuclei per cell). These nuclei are not identical and there is some evidence that they can recombine (exchange genes) during normal cell division. This would explain sectoring on agar in clones and 1/2 albino mushrooms that don't clone true.
I need to get back to work on the albino myself. I suspect that a heavy sporulating albino isn't possible since pigment production seems to be intimately involved with spore production. I also suspect a viral infection in all of the PF lines that degrades the culture over time and may be one of the reasons for the genetic damage that has caused a variety of mutations. |