1. Kingdom: Fungi

2. Mycology Myco- = fungus -ology= study of
A Mushroom walks into a bar and the bartender says, “We don't serve your kind here!” and the mushroom says, “Why? I'm a Fungi!”
Mycology
Myco- = fungus
-ology= study of

3. General Characteristics of Fungi:
Eukaryotic
Decomposers – the best recyclers around
No chlorophyll – non photosynthetic
Most multicellular (hyphae) – some unicellular (yeast)
Non-motile
Cell walls made of chitin (kite-in) instead of cellulose like that of a plant
Are more related to animals than plant kingdom
Lack true roots, leaves and stems
Absorptive heterotrophs -Digest food externally and then absorb it

4. Lack of chlorophyll affects the lifestyle of fungi…
Not dependant on light
Can occupy dark habitats
Can grow in any direction
Can invade the interior of
a substrate with
absorptive filaments

5. Structures
Bread mold

6. Hyphae Body of fungus made of tiny filaments or tubes called hyphae .
Contain cytoplasm and nuclei (more than 1)
Each hyphae is one continuous cell
Cell wall made of chitin
A tangled mess of hyphae is called mycelium
Rhizoids are root-like parts of fungi that anchor them to the substrate (whatever they are bonding to)

7. Mycelium increase the surface area of the fungi to absorb more nutrients.
Hypha
Mycelium
Figure 17.15B, C

8. CLASSIFICATION OF FUNGI:
Fungi can be classified into 5 groups
Fungi evolved from an aquatic, flagellated ancestor
Chytrids
Zygomycetes
(zygote fungi)
Glomeromycetes
(arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi)
Ascomycetes
(sac fungi)
Basidiomycetes
(club fungi)
Figure 17.17A

9. Chytrids

10. Glomeromycetes (Mycorrhizae fungi)

11. Mycorrhizae are mutually beneficial associations of plant roots and fungi
Common and may have enabled plants to colonize land
Help create an extending network for the plant to absorb more nutrients and water
A mycorrhizal fungus enveloping roots of a red pine tree

12. Ascomycetes (Sac fungi)
Truffles and yeast
Figure 17.17D

14. Basidiomycetes (club fungi)
Puff ball mushroom
Figure 17.17E

15. Zygomycetes (zygote fungi)
Bread
Mold
Figure 17.17B, C

16. Fungus Reproduction:
Fungi produce spores in both asexual and sexual life cycles
Mushrooms let out spores from their pores that are carried by the wind to meet other spores and become a new fungi
Yeast are unicellular and divide into new fungal cells (mitosis)
In some fungi, fusion of haploid hypha produces a heterokaryotic stage containing nuclei from two parents (fusion of cytoplasm)
After the nuclei fuse, meiosis produces haploid spores (can grow in fungi and are the asexual part of the life cycle)

17. General Fungi Reproduction Cycles:
Video clip of reproduction
Key
Haploid (n)
Heterokaryotic (n + n)
(unfused nuclei)
Diploid (2n)
Heterokaryotic
stage
Fusion of nuclei
Fusion of cytoplasm
Sexual
reproduction
Meiosis
Zygote
(2n)
Spore-producing
structures
Germination
Asexual
Spores
(n)
Mycelium
Spores (n)
Figure 17.16

18. But fungal groups do differ in their life cycles and reproductive structures
Key
Haploid (n)
Heterokaryotic (n + n)
Diploid (2n)
Fusion of
nuclei
Meiosis
Mycelia of
different
mating types
Cells fuse
Young
zygosporangium
(heterokaryotic)
Zygosporangium (n + n)
Sporangium
Spores
(n) 1 2 3 4
Figure 17.18A

19. Reproduction in Basidiomycetes:
Key
Haploid (n)
Heterokaryotic (n + n)
Diploid (2n)
Fusion of
nuclei
Meiosis
Basidia
Spores (n)
Mushroom 1
Fusion of two hyphae
of different mating types 2
Growth of
heterokaryotic mycelium 3
Diploid nuclei 4
Spores
released 5
Germination of spores
and growth of mycelia
Figure 17.18B

20. Basidiomycota (typical mushroom)

21. ASCOMYCOTA

22. FUNGI NUTRITION:
Fungi absorb food after digesting it outside their bodies
Fungi are heterotrophic eukaryotes
That digest their food externally and absorb the nutrients
Figure 17.15A

23. FUNGI NUTRITION:
Fungi use digestive enzymes to break down their food then absorb the liquid. (acquire nutrients such as nitrogen)
Examples:
trap nematodes (little worms who feed on fungi) and paralyze them with special juices then absorbs and digests the nitrogen out of them.

24. 3 Modes of Nutrition in Fungi:
Saprophytes
Parasites
Mutualists (symbionts)

25. Saprophytes Use non-living organic material
Important scavengers in ecosystems
Important in recycling carbon, nitrogen and essential mineral nutrients

26. Parasites
Use organic material from living organisms, harming them in some way
Range of hosts from single-celled diatoms to fungi, to plants to animals to humans

27. Mutualists (symbionts)
Fungi that have a mutually beneficial relationship with other living organisms
Mycorrhizae – beneficial relationship with fungi with plant root
More than 90% of plants in nature have a mycorrhizal in roots (example: Truffles- expensive delicacy!)
Lichens – associations of fungi with algae or cyanobacteria
Food source for animals, breaking down rocks into soil

28. Parasitic fungi harm plants and animals
Parasitic fungi cause 80% of plant diseases
Can kill plants and affect crops
Figure 17.19A–C

29. Many fungi are harmful to humans
Can cause human diseases – allergies, athletes foot, ringworm, yeast infection

31. Ringworm
A contagious fungal infection having characteristic red ring that can appear on an infected person’s skin
Can affect the scalp, the body (particularly the groin), the feet, and the nails
Also called Tinea

33. Benefits of Fungi
Fungi also form mutualistic relationships with animals
Some animals benefit from the digestive abilities of lichens
Figure 17.21

34. Benefits of Fungi:
Lichens consist of fungi living mutually with photosynthetic organisms
Lichens consist of algae or cyanobacteria (protists or bacteria) within a fungal network
Fungal
hyphae
Algal
cell
Colorized SEM 1,000 
Figure 17.20A, B

35. Lichens

36. Benefits of Fungi
Fungi have enormous ecological, economic and practical uses
Ecological= fungi are essential decomposers; mycorrhizae increase plant growth
Economic/Practical= antibiotics and food (making bleu cheese/ truffles and truffle hunting)
Staphylococcus
aureus
P enicillium
Zone of
inhibited
growth
Figure 17.22A, B

37. More Useful Fungi: Yeasts – baking and brewing beer
Antibiotics – penicillin & cephalosporin
Production of organic acids – citric acid in Coke
Steroids and medicines – birth control pills

38. MAJOR PARTS OF A MUSHROOM:
Cap (Pileus) - The top part of the mushroom.
Cup (Volva) - A cup-shaped structure at the base of the mushroom. The basal cup is the remnant of the button (the rounded, undeveloped mushroom before the fruiting body appears). Not all mushrooms have a cup.
Gills (Lamellae) - A series of radially arranged (from the center) flat surfaces located on the underside of the cap. Spores are made in the gills.
Mycelial threads - Root-like filaments that anchor the mushroom in the soil.
Ring (Annulus) - A skirt-like ring of tissue circling the stem of mature mushrooms. Not all mushrooms have a ring.
Scales - Rough patches of tissue on the surface of the cap
Stem (Stape) - The main support of the mushroom; it is topped by the cap. Not all mushrooms have a stem.

39. Structure of a Basidiomycetes