Fungi are no longer considered plants because they: 1. Reproduce by haploid spores

2. Made of long filaments called hyphae 3. Have cell walls made of chitin

4. Do not have chlorophyll 5. Digest their food before they ingest it ( Extracellular digestion, also known as absorption feeders )

Most Fungi are saprophytic, some are parasitic Fungi grow in moist, dark, warm places

Fungi reproduce asexually by fragmentation, budding, and spore production

Most fungi also reproduce sexually Fungi are classified by the way they reproduce

There are more than 65,000 species of fungi; most are microscopic

Septum Hyphae structure True MoldsAll other fungi Pore

Part II: Classification There are 4 phyla of fungi

Phylum:Zygomycota Structure: many interwoven hyphae with numerous spore- bearing stalks called sporangiophores sticking up

Sporangiophore

Asexual rep: haploid spores growing on stalks Sexual rep: fusion of hyphae, develops a zygospore

Zygospore

Habitat: soil; baked goods; most are terrestrial; some parasitic on insects

Example 1: Cordyceps (parasitic on a grasshopper)

Example 2: Black bread mold (Rhizopus sp.)

Importance: Destroy many foods; destroy lumber; that all leads to “big bucks” wasted

1-Zygomycota life cycle Rhizoids Zygospore Sporangia Stolon

2-Basidiomycota Cap Stipe Gills

Structure: spores on a fruiting body called a basidiocarp; spores grow on exterior surface of basidia

Asexual Reprod.: Fragmentation; Asexual basidiospores Sexual Reprod.: Hyphae fuse; fruiting body (basidiocarp) grows

Basidia Basidospores

Habitat: all terrestrial; decomposers of plants

Examples: mushrooms, shelf fungi, puffballs, stinkhorn, rusts, smuts

Importance: many edible; many are plant pathogens (corn smut, wheat rust…)

3-Ascomycota

Structure: spores on a fruiting body called an ascocarp; ascospores grow in an interior sac- like structure called an ascus

Asexual Reprod.: In unicellular form (yeast) budding which is unequal mitosis. In others, asexual spores form

Sexual Reprod.: hyphae fuse, grow fruiting body (ascocarp), then, develop spores called ascospores

BUDDING

Ascus Ascospores

Habitat: grow on wood, soil, & other substrates; some pathogenic

Examples: Unicellular: Yeast Multicellular: Cup fungi, Truffles, Morels, Mildew

Importance: Many edible; yeast important in fermentation (big money in fermentation science)

4-Deuteromycota Conidiophore Conidiospores

Structure: many spore-bearing filaments

Reproduction: ONLY asexual reproduction; spores grow on conidia (a structure that looks like a fork); conidiospores look like strings of beads

Habitat: soil; plants; and many on animals

Examples: Penicillium sp.; Aspergillis sp.; Athletes foot and Ringworm (both types ofTinea sp.–where the name Tinactin comes from)

Importance: used to make medicines; many destroy foods; many pathogenic/parasitic on animals