Fungi 100,000 species

Characteristics Eukaryote: with chitonous cell wall, no chloroplasts Reproduction – Asexual – budding – in yeast cells – Sexual – spores made inside of “fruiting bodies that are produced on reproductive hyphae – most fungi Metabolism: respiration and fermentation – Absorption of nutrients through mycelia – Saprophytes (most fungi) – Parasite (athlete’s foot, ringworm and Dutch elm)

Environment: grow best in moist, warm places

Phyla Basidiomycetes: club fungi - mushrooms, bracken fungi, puffballs, (produce 4 spores in sporangium) Ascomycetes: morel mushroom, cup mushroom (produce 8 spores in sporangium) Oomycetes: water-borne fungi Deuteromycetes: athletes foot

Basidiomycetes Also includes smut!

Smut!!!!!!!!!!! Not pornographic material Not what you think!

Corn smut

Giant puffballs Look carefully!

Inside of a puffball

Bracken fungus growing on dead tree

Bracken fungi on tree

Rust

“Killer” Mushrooms

Fairy rings Oops…. Wrong type!

Fairy Ring A circular collection of fruiting bodies (mushrooms) that are actually all connected underground by one mycelium mass The larger the diameter, the older the mycelium

Ascomycetes Cup/sac fungi

Orange Jelly fungus

Morel mushroom

Stachybotrys mould that is responsible for sick building syndrome (leaky condo)

Oomycetes Most feed on dead aquatic materials Some species are saprophytes of dead plants and animals One species is thought to be the cause of the current worldwide die-off of frogs primitive, single-celled, colonial, or mycelial fungi that appear to reproduce asexually most of the time, only reproducing sexually in times of dire need. primitive

Zygomycetes Live on soil or dead and decaying plant or animal matter Simplest reproductive cycle Asexual reproduction: produce spores in sporangia Sexual reproduction: produce zygospores

Zygospore

Pilobolus kleinii Hat Thrower

Yeast (in bread)

Black bread mold sporangia

Penicillin – (a direct descendant of the fungus used by Dr. Fleming to make the first antibiotic)

Deuteromycetes "fungi imperfecti" generally do not exhibit a sexual reproductive function

Athlete’s foot and ringworm

Slime molds – no longer considered fungi, but protists

Other: NOT a phylum but a symbiotic relationship: Lichen

Foliose lichen

Cladonia coccinera fruiting bodies

Ecological significance Symbiotic relationships – Lichen – a combination of plant and fungi in a mutualistic relationship (An index species in ecological succession) Fungi – obtain sugars and substrate (surface) to grow on Algae – obtains mineral nutrients as the fungus enzymes break down the rock surface

Ecological significance of Fungi Important decomposer Some pathogenic Some fight disease (produce antibiotics Some edible Some poisonous – enzymes can liquify your liver if you do not get the appropriate anti-toxin immediately (assuming there is an anti-toxin)

Mycorrhizae (whitish stuff next to the brown roots)

Structures StructureFunction Cap (Pileus)Covers and protects the reproductive structures (gills) Ring (Annulus)Covered and protected the gills as the fruiting body pushed through the ground Cup (Volva)Covered and protected the gills as the fruiting body pushed through the ground ScalesSections of the cap Gills (Lamellae)Contain the basidiospores (spores) – reproductive cells Stem (stape)Holds the cap and gills high above the ground, ensuring a wide broadcast of the spores Mycelia (pl) Mycelium (singl) Release and absorption of digestive enzymes – mushroom absorbs nutrient-rich liquids through membrane to obtain nutrition HyphaeOne mycelium filament – used for sexual reproduction and absorption

The Filamentous Body of a Fungus (a) Mycelium (b) Individual Hyphae (c) Hyphal Cells (cutaway) Cell Walls Septum Pore Cytoplasm Haploid Nuclei

Mycelia

Sexual reproduction Rhizopus example:

Zygospore germinates Sporangia Spores (haploid) Haploid 1n Diploid2n

Steps to sexual reproduction Hyphae of two fungi grow together (negative and positive strain- no male or female) Genetic material is exchange New spore producing structure (zygospore) grows from the joined hyphae New genetically unique fungus grows out from the zygospore

Mycelia and spores

More spores

The End Don’t worry, the fungi won’t kill you… to be continued…

Youtube links David Attenborough – The Secret life of plants – amazing growth Cordyceps and insects athlete’s food U of Missouri – fungi research spore release