Sexual Reproduction in Aspergillus:

 Most of the species are homothallic.

 Shows stepwise degradation of sexuality and performs the
functions of sexual reproduction through the parasexual cycle.

Methods of Sexual Reproduction:

 Sex organs are developed on the same mycelium in separate
hyphae. The male sex organ, antheridium, develops on the
hyphae called pollinodium and the female sex organ,
ascogonium, develops on the hyphae called archicarp.
 The archicarp becomes curled at its terminal region and is
divided by septa into three parts. The longest terminal segment
is called trichogyne, the central portion is called oogonium and
the basal part is called the stalk. All parts are multinucleate.
 The pollinodium develops from the female hypha or from an
adjacent hypha. It coils around the ascogonium several times
and arches over the apex.
 Then it cuts off a unicellular antheridium at its terminal end.
 Plasmogamy occurs by the fusion of the antheridium with the
trichogyne of the ascogonium and the protoplast with the nuclei
of the antheridium passes into the oogonium.
 The male and female nuclei in the ascogonium come to lie in
pairs but do not fuse.
Development of Ascocarp:
 After pairing with the nuclei, the ascogonium becomes septate,
and each segment is binucleate.
 Each binucleate segment produces ascogonous hypha laterally
which may be branched or unbranched and the hyphae are also
septate.
 The ultimate and penultimate cells of each ascogonous hypha
gives rise to asci.
 Each ascus contains 8 ascospores.
 By this time several sterile hyphae develop from the stalk of the
ascogonium and surround it completely forming the fruiting
body or the ascocarp.
 The ascocarp is small, rounded, yellow and a hollow ball with
smooth wall.
 It contains several asci, and it has no openings. Ascocarp is
called Cleistothecium or Cleistocarp.
 The two haploid nuclei (male + female/female + female) fuse to
form a synkaryon that normally divides by meiosis followed by
meiotic division to form 8 haploid ascospores.
 After the formation of ascospores, the asci wall dissolves and
ascospores are liberated inside the ascocarp and lie freely.
 At the maturation of ascocarp, all the vegetative structures
including the wall of the asci undergo degeneration to form a
nutritive fluid for the developing ascospores.
 The ascospores are liberated by the decay of the wall of the
cleistothecium.
 Each ascospore is lens shaped, uninucleate structure with a
groove around the edge.
 The ascospore germinates falling on a suitable substratum
through a germ tube the gives rise to the new mycelium.