1. Kingdom Fungi

2. The Characteristics of Fungi
Fungi are NOT plants
Non-photosynthetic
Eukaryotes
Nonmotile
Most are saprobes (live on dead organisms)

3. The Characteristics of Fungi
Absorptive heterotrophs (digest food first & then absorb it into their bodies
Release digestive enzymes to break down organic material or their host
Store food energy as glycogen
BREAD MOLD

4. The Characteristics of Fungi
Important decomposers & recyclers of nutrients in the environment
Most are multicellular, except unicellular yeast
Lack true roots, stems or leaves
MULTICELLULAR MUSHROOM
UNICELLULAR YEAST

5. The Characteristics of Fungi
Cell walls are made of chitin (complex polysaccharide)
Body is called the thallus
Grow as microscopic tubes or filaments called hyphae that grow into the food.

6. The Characteristics of Fungi
Some are edible, while others are poisonous
EDIBLE
POISONOUS

7. The Characteristics of Fungi
Produce both via sexually and asexually via spores
Classified by their sexual reproductive structures
Spores come in various shapes

8. The Characteristics of Fungi
Grow best in warm, moist environments
Mycology is the study of fungi
Mycologists study fungi
A fungicide is a chemical used to kill fungi
Fungicide kills leaf fungus

9. The Characteristics of Fungi
Fungi include puffballs, yeasts, mushrooms, toadstools, rusts, smuts, ringworm, and molds
Penicillium mold
Puffball

10. Benefits to Humans
Prevent the spread of pathogenic diseases caused by bacteria
The antibiotic penicillin is made by the Penicillium mold
Prevent growth of some cancer cells
Treat human diseases

11. Hyphal growth Hyphae grow from their tips
Mycelium is an extensive, feeding web of hyphae
Mycelia are the ecologically active bodies of fungi
This wall is rigid
Only the tip wall is plastic and stretches

12. SPORES
Spores are an adaptation to life on land
Ensure that the species will disperse to new locations
Each spore contains a reproductive cell that forms a new organism
Nonmotile
Dispersed by wind

13. - + SEXUAL REPRODUCTION
Haploid 1n hyphae from 2 mating types (+ and -) FUSE (Fertilization)
Forms a hyphae with 2 nuclei that becomes a ZYGOTE
The zygote divides to make a SPORE - +
SPORE FORMS

14. Three types of Asexual Reproduction
Fragmentation – part of the mycelium becomes separated & begins a life of its own
Budding – a small cell forms & gets pinched off as it grows to full size
Used by yeasts
Asexual spores – production of spores by a single mycelium

15. Reproduce by spores Spores may be Formed: Directly on hyphae
Inside sporangia
On Fruiting bodies
Penicillium hyphae
Fungi reproduce by releasing spores that are produced either sexually or asexually.
The output of spores from one reproductive structure is enormous, with the number reaching into the trillions.
Dispersed widely by wind or water, spores germinate to produce mycelia if they land in a moist place where there is food.
Amanita fruiting body
Pilobolus sporangia

16. Fruiting Bodies are modified hyphae that make asexual spores
ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION
Fruiting Bodies are modified hyphae that make asexual spores
An upright stalk called the Sporangiosphore supports the spore case or Sporangium

17. Types of Fruiting Bodies: Basidia Sporangia Ascus
ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION
Types of Fruiting Bodies:
Basidia
Sporangia
Ascus
Sporangia
Basidia

18. Both are composed of hyphae
Fruiting Bodies
Both are composed of hyphae
mycelium

19. Hyphal growth from spore
Germinating spore
Fungal mycelia can be huge, but they usually escape notice because they are subterranean.
One giant individual of Armillaria ostoyae in Oregon is 3.4 miles in diameter and covers 2,200 acres of forest,
It is at least 2,400 years old, and weighs hundreds of tons.
(Actually noone has seen this of this extent – but cultures have been taken from soil over that area and all isolates have been found to be the same individual)
Ten cubic centimeters of rich organic soil may have fungal hyphae with a surface area of over 300 cm2
mycelium
Mycelia have a huge surface area
More surface area aids digestion & absorption of food

20. It’s All About the Spores!
Spores are everywhere!
Wind, animals, water, & insects spread spores
Spores germinates when they land on a moist surface (new hyphae form)

21. Major Groups of Fungi Basidiomycota – Club Fungi
Zygomycota – Bread Molds
Ascomycota – Sac Fungi
Lichens – Symbiosis (algae & Fungi)

22. ZYGOmycota

23. Rhizopus on strawberries
Zygomycota
Rhizopus on strawberries
Called the sporangium fungi
Commonly called molds
Also includes blights
Grow rapidly
Includes bread mold
Tomato Blight
Most of the 600 zygomycote, or zygote fungi, are terrestrial, living in soil or on decaying plant and animal material.
Asexual reproduction in sporangia
One zygomycote group form mycorrhizas, mutualistic associations with the roots of plants.

24. Basidiomycota

25. Basidiomycota Called Club fungi Includes: Mushrooms Toadstools
Bracket & Shelf fungi
Puffballs
Stinkhorns
Rusts and smuts
Asexual spores conidia
Ecologically important on wood as decomposers and parasites
Half the mushrooms form mycorrhizas

26. USES For Basidiomycota
Some are used as food (mushrooms)
Others damage crops (rusts & smuts)
Portobello Mushrooms
Soybean Rust
Corn Smut

27. ASCOMYCOTA

28. Characteristics Called Sac fungi
Includes Cup fungi, morels, truffles, yeasts, and mildew
May be plant parasites (Dutch elm disease and Chestnut blight)
Reproduce sexually & asexually
Mycologists have described over 60,000 species of ascomycetes, or sac fungi.
Ascomycota tend to grow from spore to spore in one year and relate well to living plant tissues
There is diverse form in the growth and fruiting structures – yeasts to morels, many intermediate (and small)
Asexual reproduction by conidia (externally produced, not in sporangia)
Half of the Ascomycota form lichens (evolved 8 or more times in different orders) but not all lichens are Ascomycotes

29. Characteristics
Yeasts reproduce asexually by budding (buds break off to make more yeast cells)
Asexual spores called conidia form on the tips of special hyphae called conidiophores
Mycologists have described over 60,000 species of ascomycetes, or sac fungi.
Ascomycota tend to grow from spore to spore in one year and relate well to living plant tissues
There is diverse form in the growth and fruiting structures – yeasts to morels, many intermediate (and small)
Asexual reproduction by conidia (externally produced, not in sporangia)
Half of the Ascomycota form lichens (evolved 8 or more times in different orders) but not all lichens are Ascomycotes
CONIDIA

30. YEASTS BUDDING Saccharomyces
Bread and wine yeast, the budding yeast, Saccharomyces
Easily cultured. For a time, this was the most important organism for studying the molecular genetics of eukaryotes
Thus, Saccharomyces is arguably the most important organism known to humans
Candida causes diseases of humans, usually experiencing chemical imbalance or immune problems
Saccharomyces

31. Uses of Ascomycetes
Truffles and morels are good examples of edible ascomycetes
Penicillium mold makes the antibiotic penicillin.
Some ascomycetes also gives flavor to certain cheeses.
Saccharomyces cerevesiae (yeast) is used to make bread rise and to ferment beer & wine.

32. MYCORRHIZAe

33. Fungus associated with plant roots Mutualism between:
MYCORRHIZAES
Fungus associated with plant roots
Mutualism between:
Fungus (nutrient & water uptake for plant)
Plant (carbohydrate for fungus)
Extremely important ecologically
Fixes nitrogen for plants
Half of the mushroom-forming fungi (basidiomycota) form mycorrhizas with trees
Some people think that the spongy tissue in roots evolved as a place where fungi could invade to form early links with plants that helped them survive the harsh life on early earth

34. LICHENS

35. Algae or cyanobacteria (provides food)
LICHENS
Mutualism between:
Fungus (structure)
Algae or cyanobacteria (provides food)
Form a thallus (body)
Thallus is a plant-like body that doesn’t have roots, stems or leaves
Thallus doesn’t look like either partner
Dual nature of thalli was not fully understood until early 1900’s
Fungus gives the name to the lichen (by agreement)
Fungus usually, but not always, an Ascomycote (in 8+ independent orders)
Algae green. If bluegreen bacteria present, lichens fix nitrogen (turn atmospheric nitrogen into amino acid nitrogen in proteins)

36. LICHEN STRUCTURE
The nature of lichen symbiosis is may also be described as mutual exploitation instead of mutual benefit.
Lichens live in environments where neither fungi nor algae could live alone.
While the fungi do not grow alone in the wild, some (but not all) lichen algae occur as free-living organisms.
If cultured separately, the fungi do not produce lichen compounds and the algae do not “leak” carbohydrate from their cells.
In some lichens, the fungus invades algal cells with haustoria and kills some of them, but not as fast as the algae replenish its numbers by reproduction.
Lobaria oregana prefers old-growth conifer canopies in forests with clean air.

37. LICHENS AS BIOMONITORS
Some species more sensitive than others to pollutants and can indicate air quality
Bio-indicators of climate change
Lichens are in important food source for herbivores
in the tundra
Analysis for sulfur and heavy metals in resistant species shows levels relative to levels in the environment