Bipolar Smut fact of the day

Today’s Bipolar Smut Fact of the Day comes from the study “Linkage of mating-type loci distinguishes bipolar from tetrapolar mating in basidiomycetous smut fungi“, Guus Bakkeren and James W. Kronstad, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.,  Vol. 91, July 1994, pp. 7085-7089. The authors, at the University of British Columbia, write:

“50% of theinteractions in dialelic bipolar smut fungi, such as the barley pathogen Ustilago hordei, wil be successful because a single locus (MAT) controlsmatin.”