heterokaryon
thumb|Heterokaryon in fungal mitosis In biology, a heterokaryon is a multinucleate cell that contains genetically different nuclei. This is a special type of syncytium. This can occur naturally, such as in the mycelium of fungi during sexual reproduction, or artificially as formed by the experimental fusion of two genetically different cells, as e.g., in hybridoma technology.
Article
9 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Occurrence
- Ciliate protozoans
- True fungi
- Slime molds
- Artificial heterokaryon
- See also
- References
- External links
thumb|Heterokaryon in fungal mitosis In biology, a heterokaryon is a multinucleate cell that contains genetically different nuclei. This is a special type of syncytium. This can occur naturally, such as in the mycelium of fungi during sexual reproduction, or artificially as formed by the experimental fusion of two genetically different cells, as e.g., in hybridoma technology.
==Etymology== The term heterokaryosis for the property of having genetically unlike nuclei is borrowed from the German Heterokaryosis, which was coined by the German botanist Hans Burgeff in a 1912 paper about his work on the fungus Phycomyces nitens. It is based on Greek hetero, meaning "different," and karyon, meaning "kernel" or in this case "nucleus.".