Haploid cells are one of two mating types (a or α), and respond to the mating pheromone produced by haploid cells of the opposite mating type, and can mate with cells of the opposite mating type. Haploid cells cannot undergo meiosis. Diploid cells do not produce or respond to either mating pheromone and do not mate, but can undergo meiosis to produce four haploid cells.
Like the differences between haploid a and α cells, different patterns of gene repression and activation are responsible for the phenotypic differences between haploid and diploid cells. In addition to the specific a and α transcriptional patterns, haploid cells of both mating types share a haploid transcriptional pattern which activates haploid-specific genes (such as HO) and represses diploid-specific genes (such as IME1). Similarly, diploid cells activate diploid-specific genes and repress haploid-specific genes.
The different gene expression patterns of haploids and diploids are again due to the MAT locus. Haploid cells only contain one copy of each of the 16 chromosomes and thus can only possess one allele of MAT (either MATa or MATα), which determines their mating type. Diploid cells result from the mating of an a cell and an α cell, and thus possess 32 chromosomes (in 16 pairs), including one chromosome bearing the MATa allele and another chromosome bearing the MATα allele. The combination of the information encoded by the MATa allele (the a1 gene) and the MATα allele (the α1 and α2 genes) triggers the diploid transcriptional program. Similarly, the presence of only a single allele of MAT, whether it is MATa or MATα, triggers the haploid transcriptional program.
The alleles present at the MAT locus are sufficient to program the mating behaviour of the cell. For example, using genetic manipulations, a MATa allele can be added to a MATα haploid cell. Despite having a haploid complement of chromosomes, the cell now has both the MATa and MATα alleles, and will behave like a diploid cell: it will not produce or respond to mating pheromones, and when starved will attempt to undergo meiosis, with fatal results. Similarly, deletion of one copy of the MAT locus in a diploid cell, leaving only a single MATa or MATα allele, will cause a cell with a diploid complement of chromosomes to behave like a haploid cell.