When you think of fungi… But…

KEY CONCEPT Fungi are saprobes (decomposers)-break down waste or remains of plants and animals

Plants and Fungi have similar and dissimilar traits Both Fungi Photosynthesis True roots Stems Leaves Non-moving Produce spores Absorbs foot with hyphae Cell walls with chitin

Fungi are multicellular organisms, with the exception of yeasts. hyphae: thread like tubes, secrete digestive enzymes. (can grow up to a km per day) Mycellium: body of fungi underground(network of hyphae) fruiting body: reproductive structure, above ground.

Sac Fungi (Ascomycota) Form a reproductive sac, called an ascus. Examples Yeasts are single-celled. Morels and truffles are multicellular. Many ascomycetes that reproduce sexually are plant parasites and include: powdery mildews, Dutch Elm, chestnut blight Can digest resistant materials containing cellulose, and collagen. Some can consume jet fuel and wall paint.

Club fungi (Basidiomycota). reproductive structures called basidia include mushrooms, puffballs, and shelf fungi Include smuts and rust that parasitize cereal crops and cause great economic crop losses each year.

Imperfect Fungi (Deuteromycota) Group of fungi that produces asexually but sexual form is unknown Examples: leaf spot fungus, Penicillium(produces antibiotic penicillin), Aspergillus (group of green molds that can be pathogenic to humans, some safe forms are used in production of soy sauce and production of food and cosmetic additives) Tinea can cause athlete’s foot and ringworm

Bread mold Zygomycota ("Conjugation Fungi") Molds that are often found on spoiled food including: bread, cheese and meat. Mycorrhizae belong to this group Form zygospores during reproduction

Cross Walls of Hyphae Coenocytic hyphae where the nucleus of each cell is embedded in the cytoplasm without a cell wall (nonseptate, multinucleated) Eg. Zygomycota, Oomycota Hyphae with cross walls (septate) Eg. Basidiomycota, Ascomycota

Going from A to Z A B D Z

Fungi reproduce sexually and asexually. Most fungi reproduce both sexually and asexually. Yeasts reproduce asexually through budding. Yeasts form asci during sexual reproduction.

Multicellular fungi have complex reproductive cycles. distinctive reproductive structures Basidiomycota have basidia Zygomycota have zygospores Ascomycota have asci

Alternation of Generations- part of reproductive cycle is asexual, part is sexual.

All fungi form spores and zygotes.

Fungi have + and – hyphae instead of male and female. The charges have to do with calcium distribution across the tips of the hyphae

KEY CONCEPT Fungi recycle nutrients in the environment.

Fungi and bacteria are the main decomposers in any ecosystem. decompose dead leaves, twigs, logs, and animals return nutrients (carbon, nitrogen and minerals) to the soil absorb food quickly and recycle nutrients quickly

Fungi as pathogens A few fungi always cause disease Some are normally harmless, but can grow out of control under right conditions Yeast can overgrow in presence of antibiotic

Human Diseases Yeast infections from antibiotic use Ringworm Athlete’s foot

Plant Diseases Dutch elm disease Dutch elm disease Peach scab Gray mold Elm bark beetle Gray mold

Mutualistic Fungi Symbiotic relationship with another organism Both organisms benefit

Lichens Fungi and algae or cyanobacteria Fungi protect the algae Algae performs photosynthesis The lichens are beneficial because they may live in extreme environments and on bare rocks. They can help form soil. They can also take up pollutants.

Mycorrhizae → Fungi and plant roots Fungi absorb nutrients and water Plant provides glucose from photosynthesis Cross Section of root →

Mycorrhizae means “fungus-root”; mutualistic relationship between plant and fungi The plant photosynthesizes while the fungus more efficiently takes up nutrients and water from the rhizosphere than the roots would alone. Plant benefits include: Improved nutrient/water uptake Improved root growth Improved plant growth and yield Improved disease resistance Reduced transplant shock Reduced drought stress

Fungi and some insects form symbiotic relationships Leaf cutter ants build piles of leaves and add fungus. Fungus breaks down leaves and ants eat the mycelium!

Fungi are studied for many purposes. Fungi are useful in several ways. as food as antibiotics as model systems for molecular biology (eukaryote cells) Penicillum

Phylum Ex’s Characteristics Asexual Sexual Oomycota Mildew Spud blight Cellulose cell walls, 2N hyphae Flagellated oospores from sporangia Gametes fuse in gametangia creating oospores Zygomycota Rhizopus a dung fungus Chitin cell walls Coenocytic = hyphae lack crosswalls Unflagel. spores drop from sporangia Gametangia fuse to create zygospore Ascomycota Yeast, morels, truffles Conidia on conidophores Hyphae + & - fuse to create ascospores in ascus

Mushrooms Puffballs, rusts, smuts Cross walls in hyphae Basidiomycota Mushrooms Puffballs, rusts, smuts Cross walls in hyphae Asexual by way of Conidophores which produce conidiospores Sexual when hyphae fuse in BASIDIA to produce basidiospores Fungi Imperfecti Deuteromycota Penicillium, Athlete’s Foot fungus, Tomato Blight Similar To Basidio and Zygomy Asexual by conidia which produce conidophores Sexual repro Not known

Characteristics of Fungi Characteristics of Protists Eukaryotic Most multicellular Reproduce by spores More like zygotic L.C. Most nonmotile(nonmobile) Except chytrids (flagellated) No Chlorophyll not photosynthetic Heterotrophs Absorptive filaments -- hyphae (pl) Stores glycogen Similar to animals Cell wall chitin (polysacchride) Unicellular, colonial , multicellular Reproduce by : (Gametic & alternation of generation) Some are Motile & some are Nonmotile No Chlorophyll ( Except in some green algae….use pigments) Storage: Diatoms ---Store lipids Brown Algae ---- Starch Red Algae---Storage is starch Cell wall : Diatoms--- silica Brown algae—algin Red algae-- Cellulose