What Do Gender Identity and This Tiny Critter Have in Common?
How does the single-celled organism, Tetrahymena, manage to have 7 different sexes and tell them apart?!
You’re an alien on another planet and you walk into the local joint hoping that maybe you’ll meet someone to partner with. And you see 7 different genders and the only one you can’t successfully mate with is one that’s the same as you!
Nice! Lots of choices!
Next scenario.
You’re not an alien and you’re not walking into a bar. You’re a single-celled creature cavorting around in some pond water on planet Earth. And there’s 7 different genders and the only one you can’t successfully mate with is one that’s the same as you!
Nice! Lots of choices!
But then this question arises.
How does a single-celled creature know who's who and who it can mate with?
And that’s a very important question! Because one of the basic questions that all organisms need to answer is who are my peeps and who isn’t?
The creature featured in this article offers us the opportunity to gain new insights into how such recognition comes about.
