Kingdom Fungi

• Mycology: study of fungus

• Most saprophytic or parasitic; few predatory
• Eukaryotic
• Non-photosynthetic
• Multicellular
• Heterotrophic
• Common fungi:
o mold (filamentous; on breads, oranges, etc.)
o yeast (humans: unicellular; soil: multicellular)

Evolution

• Oldest fossils resembling modern fungi found in Precambrian rocks ≈ 900 mill. years old
• Earliest fossils distinctly fungi ≈ 500 mill. years old from Ordovician period
• By ≈ 300 mill. years ago, late Carboniferous period, all modern divisions of fungi evolved
• Most present day fungi are terrestrial
• Speculation that fungi underwent adaptive radiation shortly after plants & animals
colonized the land; also speculated that fungi arose from prokaryotes or red algae
• Heterotrophic

Nutrients

1. Saprophytic
o live off organic compounds which they absorb from dead organisms
o secrete enzymes on dead organism & absorb nutrients through cell walls
o store energy in form of Glycogen
2. Parasitic
o Fungus can grow on vegetation
o Absorb nutrients off plants & kill it
3. Predatory
o Ex. Pleurotus Ostreatus: captures and eats roundworms

Structures

• Chitin: polysaccharide that makes up cell wall (sugar)

• Hypha: filaments; can have more than one nucleus
o Septate Hypha: hypha whose cells are divided by a cell wall called a septum
o Coenocyte: hypha without septum
o Heterokaryotic: 2 different nuclei in 1 hypha
o Homokaryotic: 2 genetically similar nuclei in 1 hypha
• Mycelium: bunch or group of hypha that forms the body of the fungus
 • As they grow, hypha increases in length by cell division at the tip not at the base
• Dimorphism: ability to exist as 2 different forms
Reproduction

Asexual
• Advantages: faster; high in number
• 3 ways:
1. Spores: haploid versions, genetically identical, released from specialized branches
2. Fragmentation: septate hypha dry up & break apart; fragments grow into fungus
3. Budding: cell pinches off the main body & becomes new fungus

Sexual
• Advantage: genetic variation
• Gametes are + and –
• 2 hypha fuse together with the opposite gamete
• The nuclei will fuse & form a diploid version
• Produce spores which are distributed by wind

Classification

Phylum Zygomycota
• Bread mold
• Generally terrestrial
• Coenocytic
• Rhizoid: hypha that anchor the mold to surface; produce enzymes to break down food
• Stolons: hypha that grow on surface
• Asexual Reproduction:
o Upright hypha that release spores are called sporangiophores
o The tip of the sporangiophore has a sac called sporangium
o Spores inside the sac are called sporangiospores
• Sexual Reproduction:
o + and – mycelium branching & touching each other
o They fuse using conjugation
o They form a septum at the tips
o A gametangium forms at the end of each tip containing a nucleus
o The nuclei fuse to form a zygospore or zygosporangium (diploid)
o Zygospore forms a thick wall which germinates when conditions are good
o Diploid nucleus undergoes meiosis to produce haploid spores which are released

• Symbiotic Fungus: Mycorphizae

o Symbiotic with plants
o Fungus will absorb nitrogen, phosphates, & other ions to deliver to the plant root
o Increases surface area of the root
 o Plant provides sugar to the fungus
o 80% of vascular plants have similar fungus

Phylum Basidiomycota
• Mushrooms, toadstools, puffballs
• Called “club fungus”
• The hypha begins underground & eventually forms a basidiocarp
• Basidiocarp: the stem (stalk) and a cap
• Under the cap are rows of gills used for reproduction
• Sexual Reproduction
o Each gill is lines with thousands of reproductive structures called basidia
o Basidia: club-shaped & is dikaryotic ( 2 nuclei)
o 2 nuclei fuse to form a diploid zygote
o Zygote undergoes meiosis to form basidiospores
o Spores are released and carried on the wind
o Spores land & germinate into haploid mycelia
o Mycelia are monokaryotic: have 1 nucleus
o Different mycelia fuse to form secondary mycelia
 Dikaryotic mycelia
 Hyperkaryotic: genetically different nucleus
o Mycelium grows into a basidiocarp

Phylum Ascomycota
• “sac fungus;” has sac-like reproductive compartments where spores are produced
• Yeasts; molds
• Fresh or salt water; soil, logs
• Asexual Reproduction
o Conidiophores: hypha specialized in producing spores
o Conidiophore produces spores called conidium
o Conidium is dispersed by wind to form new hypha
• Sexual Reproduction
o Ascogonium: female gametangium
o Antheridium: male gametangium
o Gametangium fuse together to form an ascogonium
o Ascogonium form dikaryotic hyphae that produces an ascocarp
o Ascocarp have individual ascus where nucleus undergoes meiosis to form haploid
spores
o Ascus ruptures to release ascospores
o Ascospores germinate to form haploid monokaryotic hypha

• Symbiotic Fungus: Lichens

 o Symbiotic with photosynthetic organisms (cyanobacteria or green algae)
o Photosynthesizer provides sugar for fungus
o Fungus provides moisture, structure, & anchorage
o Lichen produces acids that decompose rocks, making minerals available
o Lichens identified by their distribution & structures
1. Crustase Lichens: found on surface of rocks & trees
2. Fruticose Lichens: are shrub-like
3. Foliose Lichens: live on flat surface, forming a sort of mat
Phylum Deuteromycota
• Imperfect fungus
• Lack a sexual reproductive cycle
• Asexual: conidiophores produce conidium
• Conidium does not have a protective sac
• Some biologists believe this phylum should be merged with Ascomycota