NUCLEAR BEHAVIOR IN THE BASIDIOMYCETE,VOLVARIELLA VOLVACEA

The basidiospores of the straw mushroom are typically uninucleate and its vegetative hyphae are generally multinucleate. There is a marked reduction of nuclear number in the trama and subhymenium. Interphase nuclei exist in two forms, each of which undertakes a particular mode of division. The “diffused” nuclei divide by conventional mitosis while the “constricted” ones divide amitotically. In metaphase of mitosis nine chromosomes were seen both in polar and lateral view. This haploid number confirms the nine bivalents found in basidia during meiosis. A unique characteristic of this fungus is that the diploid nucleus, the two postkaryotic nuclei and the four postkaryotic nuclei may be enclosed by a well-defined nuclear envelope during division.