Fungi

• Where do fungi grow?

  Fungi are everywhere, ubiquitous
• What types of environments do fungi prefer?

  Mostly moist environments
• How long ago did Prototaxites exist?

  Approx 400 Mya
• What is the basic unit of fungi?

  The basic unit is hypha
• What are the characteristics of fungal reproduction?

  • Sexual and asexual reproduction
  • Can produce spores
  • Involves hyphal growth

  
• What is the function of the fungal cell wall?

  • Protection from physical damage
• What are the nutritional strategies of fungi?

  • Mutualism
  • Parasitism
  • Commensalism
  • Saprotrophs (decomposers)
  • Necrotrophs (invade and kill host)
  • Biotrophs (live on living plants)
• What role do saprotrophs play in the ecosystem?

  They are the decomposers
• What do necrotrophs do?

  Invade and kill host tissue rapidly
• What is the significance of biotrophs?

  They live on or in living plants
• How do fungi benefit ecosystems?

  • Control pests and pathogens
  • Decompose organic matter
  • Grow in harsh conditions
  • Mediate biogeochemical transformations
• what biochemical transformations do fungi mediate

  • rock and mineral transformations, element recycling
  • bioweathering
  • mineral formation
  • metal–fungal interactions
  • bioremediation
• What are nematophagous fungi specialized for?

  Capturing nematodes
• What are lichens?

  • Mutualistic associations between fungi and photosynthetic partners
• How do fungi cause harm?

  • Agents of disease in various organisms
  • Cause damage to man made materials
  • Fungal metabolites may be toxic or carcinogenic
• What percentage of crop loss is caused by microbial diseases?

  16%
• What is unique about fungi in relation to lignin?

  Only fungi can degrade lignin
• What are some uses of fungi by humans?

  • Production of food and drink
  • Production of drugs (e.g., Penicillin)
  • Biodegradation and bioremediation
  • Use in textiles and biomaterials
• What is Penicillin used for?

  It is a major antibiotic
• What is the role of Cyclosporine?

  Suppresses immune response in transplant patients
• What is the primary metabolite produced by fungi for Coke?

  Citric acid
• What are some cultivated mushrooms?

  • Shiitake (Lentinula edodes)
  • Straw (Volvariella volvacea)
  • Enoki (Flammulina velutipes)
  • Oyster (Pleurotus ostreatus)
  • Perigord Truffle (Tuber melanospermum)
• What Nobel Prize was awarded for the discovery of penicillin?

  • Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1945
  • Awarded to Sir Alexander Fleming, Ernst Boris Chain, and Sir Howard Walter Florey
• What was the motivation for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2001?

  • Discoveries of key regulators of the cell cycle
  • Awarded to Leland H. Hartwell, Tim Hunt, and Sir Paul Nurse
• What was the motivation for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2016?

  • Discovery of mechanisms underlying autophagy
  • Awarded to Yoshinori Ohsumi
• what specialised structure do nematophagus fungi have

  constricting rings
• what are statins used for

  controlling cholesterol
• what are strobilurins used for

  agricultural fungicides
• what are fungal enzymes used for

  cheese-making, clarify fruit juices, distress denim for ‘stone-washed’ jeans, and provide fabric conditioners
• Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1958

  • George Beadle, Edward Tatum, Joshua Lederberg
  • Prize motivation: "for their discovery that genes act by regulating definite chemical events"
• The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2009

  • Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider, Jack W. Szostak
  • Prize motivation: "for the discovery of how chromosomes  are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase