Lecture 7

• Fungi are heterotrophs, so they must eat things
• Fungi are Eukaryotic
•  The main body of fungi is haploid
• Fungi can be multicellular or unicellular
• Yeast are unicellular fungi without flagella
• Fungi have a cell wall made from chitin
• Chitin is a polysaccharide commonly known for making up arthropod shells, cephalopod beaks and fish scales
• Fungi externally digest their food
• There are about 120,000 species of fungi described
• A hypha is the basic unit of a multicellular fungi
• The structure seen above the ground is the reproductive structure of multicellular fungi
• Multicellular fungi sexually reproduce in the fruiting body
• The mycelium is a mass of hyphae
• There are two kinds of hyphae: Septate, and Coenocytic.
• Septate hypha have a septum, which is a wall that separates nuclei
• Coenocytic hypha do not have walls between nuclei, so all nuclei share the cytoplasm
• Hyphae can be very specialized
• There are hyphae adapted for trapping and killing prey
• Hyphae with haustoria extend into plant cells and allow for relationships between plants and fungi
• Fungi grow by extending, they digest what they extend into
• Fungi do not have alternation of generations
• Fungi usually reproduce asexually but most can reproduce sexually
• Plasmogamy is the fusion of the cytoplasm of two individuals in sexual reproduction of fungi
• Karyogamy is the fusion of the nuclei from two individuals in sexual reproduction of fungi
• Spores in fungi are haploid
• Spores in fungi are mostly less than 20 μm in size
• Spores in fungi each contain a nucleus, dehydrated cytoplasm, and a protective coat
• Some spores in fungi can remain dormant for long periods
• Spores are produced by mitosis in asexual reproduction of fungi
• Spores are produced by meiosis in sexual reproduction of fungi
• Spores are produced to move to a new food source
• Spores are produced to avoid or wait out adverse environment
• Spores are produced by sexual reproduction to create new genetic combinations
• Asexual reproduction occurs from spores in sporangia
• Asexual reproduction occurs from conidia (spores) in conidiophores
• Asexual reproduction occurs from budding
• Fungi are closely related to animals
• Fungi and animals fall into a clade called Opisthokonts
• Animals and fungi ancestors split about 1 billion years ago
• There are 5 phyla of fungi