Sexual differentiation in fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe was found to be dependent on the glucose and inositol contents of culture media. Certain combinations in the amounts of these two compounds suppressed mating and sporulation, while maintaining normal viability. Inositol was found to be required for mating and sporulation in both nitrogen-rich and nitrogen-poor media (the lack of nitrogen is most well-known factor that induces the sexual differentiation). The experiments were performed using the wild-type strains and standard media. Mutants carrying the pat1-114 temperature-sensitive allele circumvented the need for inositol at the restrictive temperature.