Kingdom Fungi• The word Fungus comes from

Latin word meaning sponge.The plural of fungus is fungi.

• Like plants,fungi often grow in soil but they cannot make food from sunlight.

• The stalk and the head of the toadstool are the fungi's fruiting body .This releases tiny spores.New fungus grow from these.Fungi begin to reproduce when one mass of underground threads meet another (+ & - strains) of the same species they grow and produce a new fruiting body.

Classification by Reproduction• People used to think that

fungi were plants. But because they are absorptive heterotrophs they are not producers and are consumers instead

• They have cell walls made of chitin--a polysacchride like sugar or starch (instead of cellulose in plant cells)

• Fungi are classified by how they reproduce. They produce ascospores (yeast) basidiospores, (mushrooms) , zygospores (bread mold), fungi imperfecti (yeast infections)

Hyphae may contain internal crosswalls, called septa, that divide the hyphae into separate cells.

Coenocytic hyphae lack septa. The septa of many species have pores, allowing cytoplasm to flow freely from one cell to the next.

Cytoplasmic movement within the hypha provides a means to transport of materials. 

Division (Phylum) Zygomycota• molds, Rhizopus (bread mold)

• Asexual reproduction , like Rhizopus, produces a growth pattern resembling that of the strawberry. Long hyphae called stolons run along the surface of their food, periodically sinking down root-like projections called rhizoids. Long stalks called sporangiophores arise from the stolons, bearing tiny round sporangia, which break open to release spores.

Division (Phylum) Ascomycota• sac fungi (yeasts, morels, truffles, Dutch

elm disease, chestnut blight, ergot)

• Ascomycetes have a wide range of body forms, from the single-celled yeasts to mushroom-like morels. The mushroom-like fruiting body is called an ascocarp. Yeasts form tiny buds that break off and grow into larger cells.

• Ergot fungi infests rye bread and other grains. This fungus has altered the course of human history in areas like Russia where it is widespread. People eating infected rye bread were thought to have been possessed by the devil, b/c of their wild dancing and uncontrolled behavior. We know now that the chemical causing this behavior is none other than LSD.

Division (Phylum) Basidiomycota

• club fungi (mushrooms, puffballs, shelf fungi, rusts, smuts)

• Basidiomycetes, form a basidiocarp, the fruiting body commonly called a mushroom. The underside of the mushroom cap is filled with thin plates called gills.

• Most of the body of a basidiomycete is actually growing under the ground. Because the hyphae of basidiomycetes grow at roughly equal rates from the center of growth, mushrooms often appear in a large circular ring. called fairy rings.

• The largest organism on the planet is a single large fungus, a root parasite, which extends underneath 2,200 acres of conifer forest in Oregon’s Blue Mountains. It is at least 2,400 years old.

• Life Cycle of a Mushroom

Fungi Imperfecti (Deuteromycota)

• Penicillium, Aspergillus

• This “catch-all category” contains many species of fungi which have never been observed to reproduce sexually, and cannot, therefore, be classed in the other three Divisions, although most of these are probably different species of ascomycetes. They reproduce asexually in a manner similar to ascomycetes, with hyphae called conidiophores fragmenting into numerous conidiospores. Penicillin and Aspergillus are typical fungi imperfecti.

• Discovery of Penicillin

In general, the life cycle involves the fusion of hyphae from two individuals, forming a mycelium that contains haploid nuclei of both individuals.

The fusion of hyphae is called plasmogamy.

The fused hyphae containing haploid nuclei from two individuals is heterokaryotic.

In some cases, plasmogamy results in cells with one nucleus from each individual. This condition is called dikaryotic.

Eventually, two nuclei that originated from different individuals fuse to form a diploid zygote.

Meiosis then produces either four haploid nuclei or four haploid cells.

Fungi Life Cycle

Basidiomycota

Ascomycota

Zygomycota

Harmful Fungi• Many mushrooms are

poisonous, hallucinogens and even fatal (Amanita--> death cap)

• Many fungi are parasitic and cause diseases like ringworm, athletes foot,

• Can rot and contaminate foods

• Can destroy almost every type of product or food aside from some plastics

• Black Mold in Buildings• Building a House: Recipe for D

isaster

Beneficial Fungi• The mycorrhizal fungi live as

partners with plants, helping them absorb nutrients

• People eat mushrooms, truffles and other fungi, citric acid in Coke

• Fungi are decomposers like bacteria and help to recycle organic matter to inorganic = saprophytic

• Yeasts are used in making bread, wine, beer, solvents, cheese.

• Drugs made from fungi cure diseases and stop the rejection of transplanted hearts and other organs.

• Fungi are also grown in large vats to produce flavorings for cooking, vitamins and enzymes for removing stains.

• Beneficial Protists & Fungi

MycorrhizaeMutualistic association of plant roots and fungi increase the absorptive surface area of plant roots.(Fungus gets organic nutrients from plant; Plant gets minerals from the soil via the fungus).

Over 95% of vascular plants have mycorrhizae

Lichens are a symbioticassociation between algae and fungi.

Figure 31.12 Arthrobotrys, a predatory deuteromycete (imperfect fungus)

Some fungi are predatory.

Many fungi Many fungi are are decomposersdecomposers. .

SaprobeSaprobess..

Tom Volk, University of Wisconsin-La CrosseTurkey tail fungus, Turkey tail fungus, Trametes versicolorTrametes versicolor

Fungi Links• Fun Facts About Fungi:• Microbe Fungi: • Amazing Kingdom of Fungi: • Fungi Tutorial:• Fungi Classification:• Campbell’s Chapter 31: Fungi• Biology Junction Notes • Fungi Quizzes