identifier: traitmech:000607 label: parasexuality definition: A fungal phenotype enabling genetic reassortment through nuclear fusion followed by chromosome-loss-mediated ploidy reduction instead of conventional meiosis. definition_source: DOI:10.1093/emboj/cdg235 trait_category: PHYSIOLOGY term_kind: CLASS mapping_status: PROPOSED parent_traits: - METPO:1000059 evidence: - reference: DOI:10.1093/emboj/cdg235 snippet: Thus, an efficient parasexual cycle can be performed in C.albicans, one that leads to the reassortment of genetic material in this organism. notes: 'Bennett and Johnson (2003), PMID:12743044. The snippet is an exact span of the directly retrieved Europe PMC abstract. Main-text experiments and Figures 1-9 were inspected in the author-hosted PDF: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56463117e4b0770d2cd2d163/t/564e4d55e4b04412d33a3036/1447972181154/the%2Bembo%2Bjournal%2B2003%2Bbennett.pdf. Marked CAI4-derived Candida albicans strains formed tetraploid mating products; chromosome loss yielded diploid or near-diploid progeny that could mate again. Flow cytometry and multiple marker/MTL readouts support ploidy reduction; marker loss alone can also arise by recombination. The cycle need not reach haploidy. The paper leaves conventional meiosis possible under untested conditions. Its supplementary media, mating and PCR details remain unread, and its unpublished meiotic-gene deletion observations are not used as mechanistic proof.' - reference: DOI:10.1128/ec.00128-13 snippet: The diploid products are themselves mating competent, thereby establishing a parasexual cycle in this species for the first time. notes: Seervai et al. (2013), PMID:24123269. The snippet exact-matches the directly retrieved Europe PMC abstract. Publisher Methods, Results, Discussion and strain tables were read, and Figures 3 and 4 were visually inspected. Marked Candida tropicalis tetraploids produced near-diploid progeny on sorbose; remating, MTL genotyping and DNA-content measurements support a repeatable cycle. 2-DOG resistance selects GAL1 loss, not necessarily chromosome loss. The Figure 4 caption's wild-type wording does not erase the CAY2060 arg4/arg4 tester genotype reported in Table 1 and Methods. The response to presporulation medium differs from C. albicans. The supplementary Figure S1 caption and labels were read as PDF text, but the actual supplemental plot was not visually inspected. No natural canonical example is inferred from these marker-strain experiments. - reference: DOI:10.1038/s41467-019-12376-2 snippet: These results indicate that C. albicans CCL represents a 'parameiosis' that blurs the conventional boundaries between mitosis and meiosis. notes: 'Anderson et al. (2019), PMID:31558727. The snippet is an exact span of the directly retrieved Europe PMC abstract. Publisher Introduction and Results were read, but full Methods, actual figures and supplements were not inspected. Concerted chromosome loss (CCL) in C. albicans includes high inter-homolog recombination and functions of Spo11 and Rec8. Their effects on chromosome stability and recombination are different endpoints: loss of SPO11 increases marker loss while reducing recombination, whereas loss of REC8 reduces both in the tested CCL assays. Absence of conventional meiosis does not mean absence of meiosis-associated proteins. Neither homologue presence alone nor these assays establish a conventional meiotic cycle. Protein identities, native strain provenance and assay-specific causal edges remain uncurated.' discussions: - discussion_id: parasexuality-trait-scope prompt: Preserve the complete reproductive capability rather than an isolated readout. kind: CURATION_TODO status: OPEN rationale: The record denotes an organismal phenotype, not a locus, protein, ploidy measurement or individual mating experiment. Nuclear fusion followed by nonmeiotic chromosome loss permits genetic reassortment; mating can be part of this cycle. Do not define parasexuality as absence of all mating, sexual programs or meiosis-associated genes. It does not require haploid progeny, obligate asexuality, identical ploidy in every product or successful cycling in every isolate. Hyphal fusion, heterokaryosis, marker loss, aneuploidy, ploidy change and horizontal gene transfer alone are insufficient. The existing ploidy trait describes genome-copy number, not this capability. Ploidy and hyphal anastomosis are not is-a parents. The fungal scope reflects the cited evidence; broader uses of parasexual terminology require separate interpretation. Resolve external phenotype/process mappings and exact synonyms at their authorities before adding them. posed_by: codex posed_date: '2026-10-04' - discussion_id: parasexuality-mechanism-and-strain-provenance prompt: Resolve native strain provenance and stage-specific mechanisms before enrichment. kind: CURATION_TODO status: OPEN rationale: The cited laboratory cycles use marked or engineered strains; retain those qualifiers rather than promoting a tester or deletion strain to a natural canonical example. Complete the unread supplementary methods and figures, current NCBI identities, original strain provenance and native protein anchors before adding examples or a mechanistic graph. Distinguish chromosome loss, DNA-content reduction, inter-homolog recombination and renewed mating as separate readouts. A flow-cytometry peak near a diploid control does not resolve every chromosome's copy number. The 2019 parameiosis evidence prevents treating nonmeiotic as independent of all meiotic proteins or simply equating it with ordinary mitosis. Do not transfer medium responses or protein dependencies across species, and do not use a NONMECHANISTIC graph to bypass unresolved molecular grounding. posed_by: codex posed_date: '2026-10-04' curation_history: - timestamp: '2026-10-04T23:44:20Z' curator: codex action: MINTED_TRAITMECH_ID changes: Added parasexuality as a fungal reproductive phenotype with three primary DOI-backed references and exact abstract snippets. Separated nuclear-fusion/chromosome-loss cycling from isolated ploidy measurements and sequence features; retained laboratory strain and source-access limits. Ignored-and-hidden repository searches and structured METPO review found no exact record. Reserved METPO:1056100 in v484 under released phenotype. Deferred external mappings, canonical examples and protein graph pending provenance and assay-specific grounding. llm_assisted: true