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autogamy

traitmech:000622 · CLASS · PROPOSED

A sexual-reproduction phenotype in which two meiotically derived gametic nuclei formed within one unpaired, undivided cell fuse with each other, without fusion of separate gametes.

Trait evidence (4)

  • DOI:10.1017/S0016672300010740
    the synkaryon, or fertilization nucleus, is formed by the union of two pronuclei from the same individual.

    Nobili and Luporini (1967), Introduction p.35, contiguous clause after Thus, checked against the typeset publisher PDF. Main text and Summary were read; pp.35-39 and Tables 1-2 were visually inspected. Results 3(i) use serially fixed cells, not live fusion tracking. Genetic identity of fusing nuclei was inferred, not resolved cytologically. Results 3(ii) and Summary support retention of mt-locus heterozygosity in A-25; complete homozygosity therefore does not define autogamy. This is marker evidence, not whole-genome heterozygosity measurement or an identified molecular mechanism. Table 3 was not visually audited; no quantitative reanalysis is claimed.

  • DOI:10.1016/0014-4827(86)90492-1
    Autogamy is a process of meiosis and fertilization which takes place in unpaired Paramecium cells, and which is triggered by starvation.

    Berger (1986), PMID:3743667, opening scientific-abstract sentence directly retrieved in Europe PMC core metadata. The complete abstract supports unpaired-cell meiosis/fertilization and a two-stage commitment response to nutritional down-shift. Starvation and cell-cycle timing concern the studied Paramecium system, not universal definition requirements. Full text, actual figures and strain provenance remain uninspected; no canonical example or protein-level causal mechanism is inferred from this abstract.

  • DOI:10.1093/gbe/evaa052
    Autogamy in P. tetraurelia occurs in unpaired cells, is induced by starvation, and generates fully homozygous individuals

    Thind et al. (2020), PMID:32163147, PMC7239694, Introduction sec1 clause before citations, checked in raw full-text XML. The scientific abstract, Introduction, strain/culture and autogamy-reactivity Methods, and survival-advantage Results were inspected. The scored autogamy readout was DAPI-visible macronuclear fragmentation, not direct gametic-nuclear fusion in every counted cell. Fully homozygous stock d12 mass cultures do not establish that every microbial autogamy event yields homozygosity. Survival associations and proposed heat-shock-protein models are not a validated causal pathway. Natural provenance of d12 remains unresolved; it is not a canonical example here. Actual figures, remaining sections and supplements were not audited.

  • DOI:10.1080/0269249X.2013.791344
    Autogamy is a fusion of two gametic (haploid) nuclei within an undivided cell

    Kaczmarska et al. (2013), p.271, section 5.2.2, opening clause directly read in the author-posted full text at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259079699_Proposals_for_a_terminology_for_diatom_sexual_reproduction_auxospores_and_resting_stages. Sections 5.2.1-5.2.2 distinguish separate gamete fusion from undivided-cell nuclear fusion. This resolves the prior unread terminology lead; it is synthesis, not new ciliate replication. The following diatom-specific meiotic timing is not imposed on the ciliate definition, which allows postmeiotic mitosis as in Nobili and Luporini pp.35-37. Actual 2013 diagrams were not inspected.

Provenance

Identifier source
TraitMech local identifier
Definition source
DOI:10.1017/S0016672300010740

Parent traits (1)

kg-microbe context

No kg-microbe node embedding matched this record in the 2026-04-25 deepwalk.

Canonical examples (1)

Organisms cited as exemplars of this trait. Taxon ids are NCBITaxon and link out to the NCBI record.

  • Moneuplotes minuta NCBITaxon:74792 DOI:10.1017/S0016672300010740 Qualified A-25 example, named Euplotes minuta in the paper. Material and Methods p.36 traces it to coastal sand near Pisa, subsequently laboratory-maintained; no exact collection year is inferred from the relative date. Serial fixed-cell cytology supports the phenotype. Nonautogamic controls 5G/20 and hybrid offspring are not this example; A-25 also conjugates. NCBI https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=74792 and EFetch taxonomy XML checked on 2026-10-05 resolve Moneuplotes minuta with Euplotes minuta as a synonym. This species-name mapping does not authenticate a modern strain accession or reference genome.

Discussions and Knowledge Gaps (2)

Open questions attached to this trait. Seeded by just knowledge-gap-scan and curated; see the corpus-wide index.

Keep intracellular nuclear fusion distinct from broad self-fertility.

CURATION TODO OPEN autogamy-scope-and-hierarchy · raised by codex · 2026-10-05

Not yet attached to a section of this record — a curator sets attaches_to (e.g. causal_graphs#some_edge) so the gap shows beside the mechanism it concerns.

Use the unpaired-cell nuclear-fusion sense supported by the cited ciliate studies, not plant self-pollination or all selfing. The existing homothallism traitmech:000609, unisexual reproduction traitmech:000613 and primary homothallism traitmech:000614 definitions are explicitly fungal-scoped and are not exact parents or synonyms. Cytogamy traitmech:000623 involves paired cells without nuclear exchange in Nobili and Luporini p.39, unlike this unpaired-cell definition. Diller (1958), DOI:10.1111/j.1550-7408.1958.tb02567.x, uses double autogamy for the tentative paired-cell observation. That broader source terminology does not make cytogamy a child or exact synonym of this operationally unpaired-cell class. No universal genetic identity, complete homozygosity, starvation trigger, nuclear count, inability to outcross or gamete-size asymmetry is imposed. The parent gap is resolved by automixis traitmech:000625, whose single-meiotic-cell nuclear origin includes this operational scope. The broader terminology and mapping questions keep this discussion OPEN. Verify external equivalences and source-specific synonym scope before adding mappings. Paedogamy traitmech:000624 instead involves separate gametes formed within one gametangium. The clarified definition excludes their fusion, without forbidding later cell division or postmeiotic nuclear mitosis. These are event-level distinctions, not disjoint species.

Resolve molecular mechanisms and broader taxon coverage before extension.

CURATION TODO OPEN autogamy-mechanism-and-coverage · raised by codex · 2026-10-05

Not yet attached to a section of this record — a curator sets attaches_to (e.g. causal_graphs#some_edge) so the gap shows beside the mechanism it concerns.

This is an organismal reproductive phenotype, not the literal mt marker locus or a heat-shock expression signature. Nuclear-selection inference, nutritional commitment and survival associations do not supply a universal protein-resolved mechanism. No causal graph bypasses missing accession-level and perturbation evidence. Keep macronuclear-fragmentation scoring separate from directly observed fusion. The earlier metadata-only lead DOI:10.1080/0269249X.2013.791344 is now resolved by direct reading of sections 5.2.1-5.2.2: paedogamy traitmech:000624 is distinct and automixis broader. Molecular mechanisms, wider taxon coverage and external equivalences remain open; the terminology source alone does not establish them. Preserve actual abstract-resolver verdicts separately from direct full-text checks.

Curation history

  1. · MINTED_TRAITMECH_ID · codex

    Added autogamy with three DOI-backed snippets, unpaired-cell nuclear-fusion scope and a provenance-qualified Moneuplotes minuta A-25 example. Ignored-and-hidden novelty/allocation searches found no exact record or collision. Reserved METPO:1057500 in v498 under phenotype. Deferred unverified mappings, a narrower parent and protein-level mechanisms; did not impose universal homozygosity.

  2. · LINKED_RELATED_TRAIT · codex

    Linked paired-cell cytogamy traitmech:000623 and attributed Diller's broader double-autogamy usage. Preserved the unpaired definition, evidence, example and parent; did not assert subsumption or equivalence.

  3. · QUALIFIED_TRAIT_SCOPE · codex

    Addressed #1719: made the undivided-cell/no-separate-gamete-fusion boundary explicit, added directly read 2013 terminology evidence and linked paedogamy traitmech:000624. Resolved the unread-source lead while retaining other open gaps. Preserved ciliate evidence, canonical example, parent and compatibility with postmeiotic mitosis.

  4. · QUALIFIED_NUCLEAR_ORIGIN · codex

    Addressed #1720: retained the original same-cell origin of both gametic nuclei alongside the #1719 undivided-cell and no-separate-gamete-fusion boundary. Fusion location alone does not establish self-fertilization. Preserved evidence, example, discussions, parent and all prior history.

  5. · RESOLVED_PARENT_GAP · codex

    Reparented below automixis traitmech:000625 and documented the resolved parent gap while retaining other open terminology and mapping questions. Preserved definition, evidence, examples and prior history. v501 carries the existing proposed METPO ID with this hierarchy; earlier standalone templates remain historical.