LAB MANUALS

• Mycology


  The study of fungi
• Types of fungi

  • Macroscopic fungi (mushroom, puffballs, gill fungi)
  • Microscopic fungi (molds and yeast)
• Fungi


  • Non-photosynthetic eukaryotes found in the soil, air, and different aquatic environments
  • Break down organic substances with the enzymes they produce and absorb the nutrients
  • Cell walls consist primarily of chitin, a polysaccharide also found in the exoskeletons of crustaceans and insects
  • Stored carbohydrate is glycogen, the same molecule stored in animal cells
• Unicellular and non-filamentous fungi


  Yeast
• Multicellular filamentous fungi

  Molds, composed of hyphae that form a net-like mass called mycelium
• Fungal reproduction

  1. Budding

  2. Fission

  3. Fragmentation

  4. Spore formation (sexual and asexual)
• Fruiting bodies


  Reproductive structures where spores are produced
• Classification of fungi

  Based on the characteristics of the sexual spores and fruiting bodies
• Compound microscopes and prepared slides were used in the laboratory exercise
• Rhizopus stolonifera, Aspergillus sp., Penicillium sp., and moldy bread samples were observed
• Procedure

  1. Observe the different prepared slides of fungi under the LPO and HPO

  2. Identify and draw the different structures of fungi in the prepared slides

  3. Prepare a fresh mount of moldy bread on a clean glass slide, and the observe under the microscope

  4. Draw and label the fungi on the bread
• Based on observations, the general characteristics of fungi were determined
• Fungal groups

  • Basidiomycetes
  • Ascomycetes
  • Zygomycetes
  • Deuteromycetes
• Fungi are important components of the ecosystem because they act as decomposers
• Decomposition


  The breakdown of organic matter by fungi and other organisms
• Decomposition is necessary for recycling nutrients in the ecosystem
• Fungi are useful to humans in ways other than being edible and sources of food
• Some pathogenic fungi cause diseases in humans
• Dimorphism


  The ability of some pathogenic fungi to exist in two different forms
• Dimorphism is significant to the fungus as it allows it to adapt to different environments and host conditions
• Conclusions were drawn based on the laboratory exercise