8: Fungi

• Budding

  Asexual reproduction typical of unicellular yeasts, e.g. baker's yeast, where a small bud blows out on a cell and eventually separates from the 'mother' cell
• Decomposers


  • Fungi that break down dead organic matter, crucial for nutrient cycling and soil mycoflora
• Hypha


  Long, thread or tube-like, branching structure of multicellular fungi, used for anchoring, spore holding, enzyme secretion, and nutrient absorption
• Fungi


  • Eukaryotic, multi-cellular or unicellular, heterotrophic organisms, not bacteria, archaea, animals, plants, or protists
• Athlete's foot is a fungal infection caused by warmth, oxygen, and moisture - the three WOW factors
• Chytrids

  • Aquatic fungi, formerly known as Phycomycetes
• Mycelium


  System of branching colorless hyphae, the vegetative part of a fungus
• Yeast


  • Unicellular fungi, e.g. Saccharomyces cerevisiae, used in baking and brewing
• Chitin


  A sugar derivative similar to cellulose, found in the cell walls of fungi
• Penicillium


  • Genus of fungi used in the production of antibiotics and in cheese ripening
• Lichens


  • Symbiotic relationship between a photobiont (algae or cyanobacteria) and a fungus, used for colorful dyes, pollution indicators, and providing nutrients
• Phycomycetes


  • Class of fungi with motile aquatic spores, includes Phytophthora infestans causing potato blight
• Ascomycetes


  • A group of fungi including unicellular and multicellular species, e.g. baker's yeast and Peziza aurantia
• Asci

  • Characteristic spore-producing unit in Ascomycetes, bursts to release spores into the air
• Basidiomycetes


  • A group of fungi including toadstools, puff-balls, and mushrooms, with non-motile spores dispersed by wind, rain, or animals
• Apical Growth


  Exclusive growth at the tip of each hypha, can be very fast, e.g. more than 5cm a day
• Fragmentation

  Asexual reproduction where a piece of growing hypha breaks off and starts growing into a new mycelium
• Mycorrhizas


  • Associations of fungi in plant roots, aiding in nutrient absorption
• Candidiasis


  • A fungal infection caused by Candida species, potentially fatal
• Zoospores

  • Spores of aquatic fungi with flagella for swimming and dispersal, e.g., chytrids
• Saprophytes

  • Fungi living on organic matter, crucial for natural recycling and nutrient availability to plants
• Basidiospores


  • Spores of sexual origin in Basidiomycetes, formed in the basidium and released for reproduction
• Ecological role of fungi: Break down dead organic matter, making nutrients available to plants and soil bacteria
• Types of fungi

  • Filamentous fungi
  • Moulds
  • Mushrooms
  • Microscopic fungi
  • Unicellular like baker's yeast and brewer's yeast
• Sporulation


  The process of spore formation, important for dispersal and survival in fungi