Fly agaric, in fairytales and in real life. Photo source (used for educational purpose): Click on the images.
(Source of page: Dr. Nilsson's old lecture notes. Permission given in 2001 by McGraw-Hills then sales representative, Don Grainger, to use the picture online on lecture notes.)
Several illustrations of tissues from S. S. Mader. 2001. Biology. McGraw-Hill.
General Characteristics
1. multi-cellular or single-celled (yeasts)
2. eukaryotic
3. heterotrophic (no chlorophyll) -- saprotrophic or parasitic
4. have cell wall (with chitin [same chemicals in insect skeletons], not cellulose)
5. aerobic
6. large (compared to bacteria)
def. Asci: Sac-formed, reproductive structure producing haploid spores.
def. Ascospores: Spores formed by sac fungi (Ascomycota).
def. Fungi: A eukaryotic, heterotrophic, saprotrophic organism
def. Mold: A fungus (or protist if slime mold or water mold) that grows as a downy coating on animal or plant matter.
def. Saprotrophic (Saprophytic): "Rotten food eater", organism that secretes digestive enzymes and absorbs the resulting nutrients back across the plasma membrane
def. Decomposer: Organism that uses dead organic matter as source of energy
def. Spore: 1. Single celled reproductive structure, usually an asexual haploid cell that divides by mitosis to produce new haploid individuals (could also be a sexual haploid cell that first must unite with another sexual spore to produce a new life stage); 2. A resistant, resting body adapted to survive adverse environmental conditions.
def. Sporangium (pl. sporangia): In fungi (and plants), a structure within which cells undergoes meiosis to produce haploid spores.
def. Zygosporangium: Capsule-formed, reproductive structure producing haploid spores.
def. Zygospores: Spores formed by bread molds (Zygomycota).
-- Fungi invaded land about 430 million years ago (430 - 410 mya).
-- Reproduce by spores (most have both sexual and asexual reproduction stages.)
(see def. of spore above)
-- Heterotrophic, decomposers (get their nutrients from nonliving matter -- sometimes dead organisms, in all levels of the food chain, and cause its decay).
Mycelium vs. Hypha
Armillaria ostoyae, honey mushroom, 3.5 miles across and more than 2000 years old. The small mushrooms visible above ground are only the tip of the iceberg.
Photo used for educational purposes by Dr. Jan A. Nilsson, Biology Department, South Texas Community College, Texas, USA. To make the information reliable available to students in the course the photo was downloaded from URL: http://www.factmonster.com/spot/fungus1.html. Photo credit given on that web page: (AP Photo/Oregon State University)
Classification
-- the scientific name of fungus groups ends with -mycota
Phylum Chytridiomycota (chytrids)
Listed here the traditrional classification, but two members the Blastocladiomycota and the Neocallimastigomycota is now by some authoritied considered separate phyla.
Spores formed in spore sacs called chytridium. Unlike other groups of fungi both the sporophyte (diploid) state that produces the gametes (+ and -) and the gametophyte (haploid) state that produce spores are MOTILE, and the cells contain spindle fibers. Some ar unicellular, some form hyphae (multicellular thin filaments of cells)..
Economic importance: Like all fungi they ar decomposers. Most live in soil and water, but some are parasitic. One species may be the cause of amphibian die-off.
def. Mycorrhizae: Symbiotic (mutualistic) relationship between fungal hyphae and tree roots.
This used to be classified with the Zygomycota, but do only have asexual reproduction (no zygospores, no + mating type, - mating type). They cannot survive without the tree host. (The tree can survive without the fungi, but will do better if the fungi is present.)
Economic importance: Symbions (ecological relationships) with forest trees. We now believe that the Glomeromycota was very important for the movement of plants onto land millions of years ago.
Phylum Ascomycota (sac fungi)
def. Asci: Sac-formed, reproductive structure producing haploid spores.
def. Ascospores: Spores formed by sac fungi (Ascomycota).
-- spores formed in spore sacs called ascospores (sac-shaped cells called asci.)
-- Economic importance: e.g., yeast (rise dough, and form alcohol), penicillium.
• Saccharomyces, yeast used for bread, beer, and wine production
• Candida, yeast infections of the vagina
• Penicillium -- The first antibiotic, discovered in 1928 -1929 by Alexander Flemming; penicillin is a group of antibiotics derived from Penicillium fungi
Phylum Basidiomycota (club fungi)
def. Mushroom: A (usually) club or umbrella shaped fleshy fungi in the Basidiomycota.
def. Mycelium: A mass of fine, branching filaments (hyphae) that is the food-absorbing part of most fungi.
def. Mycorrhize: "Fungus-root", symbiotic relationship (a form of mutualism) between a fungus and the roots of a plant.
def. Hypha: Each filament (slender "root") in a mycelium.
def. Stalk: The structure between the cap and the mycelium of a club fungus.
def. Cap: Spore bearing structure of a club fungus.
def. Basidium: Club-formed, reproductive structure producing haploid spores.
def. Basidiocarp: The complete spore bearing structure, the mushroom, equivalent to a fruit, of a club fungus.
def. Basidiospores: Spores formed by club fungi (Basidiomycota).
-- Most have a club-shaped structure with a stalk and a cap.
-- Spores formed in club-shaped spore sacs called basidiospores.
-- Economic importance: edible mushrooms, many live in symbiosis with tree roots mycelium connected with roots by structures called mycorrhiza -- cover huge areas and are very old.
Hypha -- Hyphae -- Mycelium -- Mycelia
Lichens (Mycophycophyta)
The lichens are no longer considered a taxonomic group. The former Mycophycophyta are more than one organism -- a fungus (kingdom Fungi) and a green algae (kingdom Protista) or a fungus (kingdom Protista) and a bluegreen algare (domain Bacteria).
def. Lichen: A symbiotic relationship between a fungus and a photoautotroph, such as a green algae or a cyanobacteria.
def. Pioneer species (ecology): The first organisms in the succession process.
def. Ecological succession (ecology): The predictable process of changing one type of ecological community to another. (Gradual changes in the structure of a community, due to some abiotic change, ultimately leading to a climax community.)
Symbiotic relationship (mutualistic) between a
green algae / cyanobacteria and a fungus: - the fungus protects the algae - the algae / cyanobacteria photosynthesize (gain energy) Live in inhospitable places such as bare rocks and tree trunks (important pioneer species in ecological succession). • Reindeer moss
(Source: Dr. Nilsson's old lecture notes. Permission given in 2001 by McGraw-Hills then sales representative, Don Grainger, to use the picture online on lecture notes.)
Ch. 18.
Ch. 23
Ch. 32
Phylum Chytridiomycota (chytrids)
Spores formed in spore sacs called chytridium. Unlike other groups of fungi both the sporophyte (diploid) state that produces the gametes (+ and -) and the gametophyte (haploid) state that produce spores are MOTILE, and the cells contain spindle fibers. Some ar unicellular, some form hyphae (multicellular thin filaments of cells)..
Phylum Zygomycota ("molds", bread-molds)
Phylum Glomeromycota (AM fungi)
Phylum Ascomycota (sac fungi)
• Candida, yeast
Phylum Basidiomycota (club fungi)
- the fungus protects the algae
