biol 1023 lab 6

• Kingdom fungi characteristics

  • Decomposers
  • No chlorophyll - non-photosynthetic
  • Most multicellular (mushrooms, molds)
  • Some unicellular (yeast)
  • Non - motile
  • Cells walls composed of chitin
  • Reproduce sexually and asexually
• Septum


  Cross wall or dividing wall (septate and aseptate hypha)
• Armillaria ostoyae is the largest organism on the plant (kingdom fungi)
• How fungi obtain nutrients

  • Absorptive heterotrophs
  • External digestion
  • Many are decomposers
  • Some are predators
  • Some are parasites/ biotrophs
  • Most are saprophytes
• 5 kingdoms

  • chytridomycota
  • zygomycota
  • glomeromycota
  • ascomycota
  • basidiomycota
• Chytridomycota


  • Aquatic
  • Aseptate hyphae
  • Zoospores (diploid, flagella, animal like) as asexual spores
  • Sex gametes (haploid) as sexual spores
• Glomeromycota


  • Terrestrial
  • Aseptate hyphae
  • Spores as asexual spores
• Vascular plants depend on glomeromycota
• Ascomycota


  • Aquatic & terrestrial
  • Septate hyphae
  • Conidia as asexual spores
  • Ascospores as sexual spores
• Basidiomycota


  • Terrestrial
  • Septate hyphae
  • Basidiospores as sexual spores
• Chytridomycota


  • Simplest fungi
  • First to appear in the fossil record
  • Some occur as single spherical cells, that may produce unsegmented hyphae
  • Live in water
• in order to “move” to a new substrate these fungi produce enormous numbers of spores on or in their “fruiting bodies”
• the body of a fungus is called the mycelium

  tiny filaments called hyphae form dense mats of mycelium

  the mycelium is usually hidden in the soil, in wood, or in the substrate
• these fungi form associations with plant roots and are called mycorrhizae
• asocarp : fruiting body

  ascus : sexually sporing sac

  ascospore : sexual spores for the ascomycota

  basidiocarp : fruiting body

  basidium : club like structure

  basidiospore : sexual spores of the basidiomycota

  zygosporangia : zygospore bearing cellist ore zygospore (asexually)

  zygospore : sexual spore

  mycellium : body of the fungus

  hyphae : filaments that make up a sept ate or septate

  septum : dividing or cross wall separate hypha

  mycorrhiza : fungus that has association with plant roots
• 5 divisions under Kingdom Fungi:

  chytridiomycota (chytrids)

  zygomycota (zygomycetes) *bread molds*

  glomeromycota (arbuscular mycorrhizal)

  ascomycota (ascomycetes) *cup fungi*

  basidiomycota (basidiomycetes) *club fungi*
• Classification

  • Division
  • Characteristics
  • Reproduction
  • Examples
• Chytridiomycota


  Flagellate, aquatic; mostly decomposers, some pathogenic
• Chytridiomycota reproduction

  1. Sexual: haploid gametes

  2. Asexual: diploid flagellate zoospores
• Chytridiomycota

  • Amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis)
• Zygomycota

  Multinucleate hyphae aseptate, except in reproductive structure; decomposers and pathogens
• Zygomycota reproduction

  1. Asexual: nonflagellate spores produced in sporangia

  2. Sexual: fusion of hyphae forms zygosporangium in which meiosis occurs
• Zygomycota

  • "Black bread mold" Rhizopus stolonifer
• Glomeromycota


  Multinucleate hyphae aseptate; form AM associations
• Glomeromycota reproduction

  Asexual only: distinctively large, nonflagellate, multinucleate asexual spores
• Glomeromycota


  • The genus Glomus; AM fungi
• Ascomycota

  Decomposers; pathogenic; many form lichens; some are mycorrhizal
• Ascomycota reproduction

  1. Sexual: nonflagellate spores (ascospores) in sacs (asci) on fruiting bodies (ascocarps)

  2. Asexual: conidia
• Ascomycota


  • Yeast (bread/beer), common mold, Penicillium; truffles, morels, apple rust, chestnut blight, Dutch elm disease
• Basidiomycota

  • Decomposers
  • Many are mycorrhizal
  • Less commonly form lichens
• Reproduction in Basidiomycota

  1. Asexual: several spore types

  2. Sexual: nonflagellate spores (basidiospores) on club-shaped basidia on fruiting bodies (basidiocarps)
• Basidiomycota


  Also known as the "club fungi"
• Basidiomycota


  • Most advanced fungi because of their hyphal and reproductive structures
  • Hyphae are septate
  • Fleshy fruiting body is known as the basidiocarp
  • Bear their sexual spores (basidiospores) externally on club-shaped structures called basidia
  • Terrestrial and predominantly decomposers
  • Some are also mycorrhizal
• Diversity of Basidiomycota fruiting bodies

  • Mushrooms
  • Puffballs
  • Earth stars
  • Stinkhorns
  • Shelf fungi
  • Rusts
  • Smuts
• The fairy rings of mushrooms that people often observe are ring-shaped arrays of basidiomycete fruiting bodies
• Beneficial Roles/Usefulness of Fungi

  • Used as food (e.g. mushrooms and morels)
  • Used in laboratory experiments (e.g. baking yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae)
  • Used in production of alcoholic beverages (e.g. wine, whiskey, beer, rum)
  • Used in production of enzymes, antibiotics, and other medicines
  • Used in commercial production of organic acids
  • Agricultural importance - decompose organic matter and enhance soil fertility
  • Develop symbiotic relationships (mycorrhiza) with plant roots and help in nutrient absorption
  • Used to produce plant hormone Gibberellin
• Harmful Effects of Fungi

  • Food spoilage (destruction) caused by fungi like Mucor and Saccharomyces sp.
  • Cause loss in silk industry by killing silkworm
  • Cause plant diseases (e.g. stem rust of wheat, early blight of potato and tomato, late blight of potato, white rust of crucifer)
  • Cause human diseases like meningitis, brain tumor, candidal vulvovaginitis, vaginal thrush
  • Cause destruction of substances like textile, paper, leather goods, rubber, optical instruments
  • Some mushrooms are highly toxic to human beings
• Lichens

  • Composed of a fungus and green algae or cyanobacteria
  • The algae (or cyanobacteria) provide carbohydrates and oxygen to the fungi
  • The fungi provide carbon dioxide and mineral nutrients to the algae
  • The fungi protect their photosynthetic partners from environmental stress
• Lichen growth forms

  • Crustose
  • Foliose
  • Fruticose
• Crustose lichens


  Grow tightly pressed to their substrate