7/6/2014 Division Fungi

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Division Fungi
Characteristic of Fungi
Nutritional modes
Fungi are heterotrophs which are saprobes (consume dead material) or parasites
Fungi obtain nourishment by secreting digestive enzymes and then absorbing the broken-down
substances
Fungi are basically an animal turned "inside out"
Body plans
Fungi are multicellular organisms composed of filamentous hyphae
A mass of hyphae is called a mycelium (a mushroom is a mycelium)
Fungi also possess sporangia during their reproductive cycle
Hyphae can be haploid (n), diploid (2n), or dikaryoid (n+n)
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Reproductive cycle
Asexual - sporangia produce haploid spores
Sexual - gametangia produce gametes
The asexual mode of reproduction is far more common
Most major taxonomic groups are differentiated by reproductive cycle
Fungal Taxonomy
Zygomycota
Common representatives: black bread molds
Hyphae are haploid
Reproduction relies mainly on asexual spore production
Sexual reproduction:
gametangia form
a zygospore is then formed where the gametes fuse
a sporangia forms, meiosis occurs, and haploid spores
are released
Ascomycota (sac fungi)
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Common representatives: yeasts, morels, and truffles
Hyphae are haploid and dikaryoid
Asexual reproduction relies on asexual spore production
Sexual reproduction:
multicellular spore-producing structure (ascocarp) forms
nuclei in dikaryoid hyphae fuse
meiosis occurs and haploid spores are released
Basidiomycota (sac fungi)
Common representatives: mushrooms
and shelf fungi
Hyphae are haploid and dikaryoid
Asexual reproduction relies on asexual
spore production
this is much rarer in
basidiomycetes than in
zygomycetes or ascomycetes
Sexual reproduction:
multicellular spore-producing
structures (basidiocarps) form
nuclei in dikaryoid hyphae fuse
meiosis occurs and haploid
spores are released
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Deuteromycota (fungi imperfecti)
The major divisions of fungi are based on sexual reproduction mode. What happens if the sexual stage of
a fungi is not known?
All of these fungi are lumped into a fourth group for simplicity
Members include Trichophyton (Athlete's foot), Penicillium (Penicillin), and Candida albicans ("Yeast"
infections).
Symbiosis between Fungi and Plants
Lichens
Lichens are
the product
of a
symbiosis
between a
fungi and an
algae
The fungi
envelops
the algae
and derive
nutrition
from the
algae
The fungi
provides
water and
shelter for
the algae
Lichens can
absorb
minerals
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from rock
and nitrogen
from the air
Mycorrhizal fungi
Mycorrhizae are fungi with a symbiotic
relationship with land plants
The fungi regulates ion flow into the plants and in
turn is supplied with carbohydrates
Some of the earliest terrestrial plant fossils show
evidence of mycorrhizal associations
This implies that this symbiosis was
important, if not crucial, for the
colonization of the land by plants

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