Fungi

Over the last few years, the incidence of serious fungal infections has been
increasing. These infections are occurring as nosocomial infections (hospital-
acquired infection) and in people with compromised immune systems. In
addition, thousands of fungal diseases affect economically important plants,
causing huge economic losses.
Fungi are also beneficial. They are important in the food chain because
they decompose dead plant matter, thereby recycling vital elements. Through
the use of extracellular enzymes such as cellulases, fungi are the primary
decomposers of the hard parts of plants, which cannot be digested by animals.
Nearly all plants depend on symbiotic fungi, known as mycorrhizae, which help
their roots absorb minerals and water from the soil. Fungi are also valuable to
animals. Fungi are used by humans for food (mushrooms) and to produce
foods (bread and citric acid) and drugs (alcohol and penicillin). Of the more
than 100,000 species of fungi, only about 200 are pathogenic to humans and
animals.
The study of fungi is called mycology. We will first look at the structures
that are the basis of fungal identification in a clinical laboratory, and then we
will explore their life cycles. We will also examine nutritional needs. All fungi
are chemoheterotrophs, requiring organic compounds for energy and carbon.
Fungi are aerobic or facultatively anaerobic; only a few anaerobic fungi are
known.
Characteristics of Fungi
Fungi are present in both unicellular as well as multicellular forms;
Multicellular fungi include molds (typical fleshy fungi) & mushrooms while
unicellular fungi are called as yeast.
Molds
The thallus (body) of a mold or fleshy fungus consists of long filaments of cells
joined together; these filaments are called hyphae (singular: hypha). Hyphae
can grow to immense proportions. In most molds, the hyphae contain cross-
walls called septa (singular: sepum), which divide them in to distinct,
uninucleate (one-nucleus) cell-like units. These hyphae are called septate
hyphae. In a few classes of fungi, the hyphae contain no septa and appear as
long, continuous cells with many nuclei. These are called coenocytic hyphae.
Even in fungi with septate hyphae, there are usually openings in the septa that
make the cytoplasm of adjacent "cells" continuous. Hyphae grow by elongating
at the tips. Each part of a hypha is capable of growth, and when a fragment
breaks off, it can elongate to form a new hypha. In the laboratory, fungi are
usually grown from fragments obtained from a fungal thallus. The portion of a
hypha that obtains nutrients is called the vegetative hypha; the portion
concerned with reproduction is the reproductive or aerial hypha, so named
because it projects above the surface of the medium on which the fungus is
growing. Aerial hyphae often bear reproductive spores. When environmental
conditions are suitable, the hyphae grow to form a filamentous mass called a
mycelium, which is visible to the unaided eye.
Yeasts
Yeasts are nonfilamentous, unicellular fungi that are typically spherical or oval.
Like molds, yeasts are widely distributed in nature; they are frequently found
as a white powdery coating on fruits and leaves. There are two types of yeasts;
budding yeasts & fission yeasts.
Budding yeasts, such as Saccharomyces divide unevenly. In budding,
the parent cell forms a protuberance (bud) on its outer surface. As the bud
elongates, the parent cell's nucleus divides, and one nucleus migrates into the
bud. Cell wall material is then laid down between the bud and parent cell, and
the bud eventually breaks away. One yeast cell can in time produce up to 24
daughter cells by budding. Some yeasts produce buds that fail to detach
themselves; these buds form a short chain of cells called a pseudohypha.
Fission yeasts, such as Schizosaccharomyces divide evenly to produce
two new cells. During fission, the parent cell elongates, its nucleus divides, and
two daughter cells are produced.
Increases in the number of yeast cells on a solid medium produce a
colony similar to a bacterial colony. Yeasts are capable of facultative anaerobic
growth. Yeasts can use oxygen or an organic compound as the final electron
acceptor; this is a valuable attribute because it allows these fungi to survive in
various environments. If given access to oxygen, yeasts perform aerobic
respiration to metabolize carbohydrates to carbon dioxide and water; denied
oxygen, they ferment carbohydrates and produce ethanol and carbon dioxide.
This fermentation is used in the brewing, wine-making, and baking
industries.
Dimorphic Fungi
Some fungi, most notably the pathogenic species, exhibit dimorphism-two
forms of growth. Such fungi can grow either as a mold or as a yeast. The
mold like forms produce vegetative and aerial hyphae; the yeast like forms
reproduce by budding. Dimorphism in pathogenic fungi is temperature-
dependent: at 37oC, the fungus is yeast like, and at 25°C, it is mold like.

Comparison of bacteria & fungi

Characteristics of fungal hyphae

A budding yeast