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Populations and Individuals in Heterokaryotic Fungi: A Multilevel Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Abstract

Among mycologists, questions persist about what entities should be treated as the fundamental units of fungal populations. This article articulates a coherent view about populations of heterokaryotic fungi and the individuals that comprise them. Using Godfrey-Smith’s minimal concept of a Darwinian population, I argue that entities at two levels of the biological hierarchy satisfy the minimal concept in heterokaryotic fungi: mycelia and nuclei. I provide a preliminary answer to the question of how to understand the relation between these two populations. This article contributes to discussions about the nature of biological individuality, organismality, and evolutionary transitions.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

Thanks to Henri Folse III, Patrick Forber, Peter Godfrey-Smith, Anne Pringle, and members of the Pringle Lab, Kolea Zimmerman, and three anonymous reviewers for valuable comments on earlier drafts of this article.

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