AbstractMating type determination in Tetrahymena malaccensis is karyonidal, ie, the four new macronuclei developing in a single conjugating pair are independently determined as to which of the six known mating types they will express. Occasional selfing clones are similar to those in T thermophila, in that any one is capable of stabilizing at a restricted range of mating types. The genetic basis of mating type potentialities is incompletely resolved. T malaccensis may, like T thermophila and T canadensis, have a single multiallelic locus that controls the array of types. Quantitative considerations suggest, however, that other loci may be involved.