FUNGI

Prepared by: Mellprie B. Marin, PhD

General Characteristics
➢ Filamentous (have hyphae)
➢ Spore-bearing
➢ Septated or non-septated
➢ With absorptive nutrition
General Characteristics
➢ Reproduce sexually and/or asexually
➢ Unicellular or multicellular
General Characteristics
➢ Spore-bearing
Distribution:
➢ Primarily terrestrial but some are freshwater
or marine
➢ Many infect plants and animals
➢ Form beneficial relationship with other
organisms
ex. Mycorrhiza – association of fungi with
plant roots
Lichens – association of fungi with
either algae or Cyanobacteria
Distribution:

• Colorful lichens

» Mycorrhiza
Structure of Fungi:
• The vegetative structure is the thallus;
long filaments of cells joined together
called hyphae
Structure of Fungi:
hyphae
• The hyphae could be septated
(presence of cross walls or septum) or
non-septated (coenocytic)
Structure of Fungi:
• When environment favors, the
hyphae grow, intertwine and form a
mass called mycelium

»
Fungal Classification:

Kingdom Fungi:
Phylum Chytridiomycota
Phylum Zygomycota
Phylum Ascomycota
Phylum Basidiomycota
Form-Phylum Deuteromycota
PHYLUM CHYTRIDIOMYCOTA (chytrids)
➢ having zoospores (motile cells) with a
single, posterior, whiplash structure
(called flagellum)
➢microscopic in size
➢most are found in freshwater or wet soils
➢most are parasites of algae and animals or
live on organic debris (as saprobes)
➢few species in the order Chytridiales cause
plant disease
PHYLUM CHYTRIDIOMYCOTA (chytrids)
➢Order Chytridiales (causing plant diseases):
Synchytrium endobioticum (causes
potato wart disease or black scab)

S. endobioticum
PHYLUM CHYTRIDIOMYCOTA (chytrids)
➢Order Chytridiales (causing plant diseases):
Olpidium brassicae (causes blackleg disease)

O. brassicae
PHYLUM ZYGOMYCOTA (bread molds)
➢ reproduce sexually and asexually:
sexual spores – zygospores
asexual spores - sporangiospores
➢ hyphae are coenocytic (non-segmented)
ex. Rhizopus artocarp
(inflorescence rot of jackfruit)
PHYLUM ZYGOMYCOTA (bread molds)
➢ Choanephora cucurbitarum
(causes soft rot of squash)
PHYLUM ASCOMYCOTA (sac fungi)
➢ very diverse: from unicellular yeasts to
powdery mildews, molds and to large and
complex cup fungi

➢ Penicillium sp. powdery mildew

PHYLUM ASCOMYCOTA (sac fungi)

➢reproduce sexually and asexually: fruiting

body is the ascus which produces sexual
spores called ascospores (8 units);
➢asexual spores are the conidia
PHYLUM ASCOMYCOTA (sac fungi)
➢ Types of fruiting bodies:
1. Perithecium – flask-like containing asci w/
ascospores
ex. Phyllachora cinnamomi
PHYLUM ASCOMYCOTA (sac fungi)
Phyllachora cinnamomi (causes tar spot)
PHYLUM ASCOMYCOTA (sac fungi)
➢ Types of fruiting bodies:
2. Cleistothecium – completely close,
spherical containing asci with ascospores
ex. Uncinula necator (causes powdery mildew
of grapes)
PHYLUM ASCOMYCOTA (sac fungi)
ex. Uncinula necator (powdery mildew)
PHYLUM ASCOMYCOTA (sac fungi)
➢ Types of fruiting bodies:
3. Apothecium – cup-like with asci
containing ascospores
ex. Peziza sp.
PHYLUM ASCOMYCOTA (sac fungi)
ex. Peziza sp.
BENEFICIAL MEMBERS
1. Saccharomyces (yeasts) – used in
brewing and baking
2. Aspergillus sp. – produce citric acid,
soy sauce and vinegar
3. Penicillium species:
P. italicum and P. chrysogenum –
sources of Penicillin (an antibiotic)
P. camemberti and P. roqueforti - useful
in the preparation of cheese
HARMFUL MEMBERS
Some species of Aspergillus produce the toxin
aflatoxin, w/c is detrimental to plant, human
and animal health (A. flavus, A. parasiticus and
A. nomius) - toxins AfB1, AfB2, AfG1, AfG2
PHYLUM BASIDIOMYCOTA (club fungi)
➢ common mushrooms, puffballs and other
fleshy fungi; parasitic rusts and smut fungi
➢ the fruiting body is called the basidium w/c
produces the sexual spores called
basidiospores
PHYLUM BASIDIOMYCOTA (club fungi)
➢ common mushroom, puffballs and other
fleshy fungi; parasitic rusts and smut fungi

smut

rust
IMPORTANT MEMBERS:

➢ Edible mushroom: Volvariella,

Agaricus, Auricularia, Pleurotus,
Termitomyces spp., Calocybe indica
➢ Poisonous mushroom: Amanita sp.
➢ Plant Pathogenic: rusts, smuts, root rots,
etc.
IMPORTANT MEMBERS: (edible fungi)

Agaricus sp. Volvariella sp. Termitomyces sp.

Auricularia sp.
IMPORTANT MEMBERS: (oyster mushrooms)

Pleurotus florida P. sajor-caju P. djamor

P. citrinopileatus
CLASS DEUTEROMYCETES:

Asexual Spores Produced:

1. Arthrospores – formed from the
fragmentation of thallus or septate mycelia into
a single slightly thickened cells
CLASS DEUTEROMYCETES:

Asexual Spores Produced:

2. Chlamydospores – thick-walled spores
formed by rounding and enlargement within a
hyphal segment
CLASS DEUTEROMYCETES:

Asexual Spores Produced:

3. Sporangiospores – formed within the
sporangium borne at the tip of
sporangiophores
CLASS DEUTEROMYCETES:

Asexual Spores Produced:

4. Conidiospores – not enclosed in a sac;
produced in chain at the end of a conidiophore
CLASS DEUTEROMYCETES:

Asexual Spores Produced:

5. Blastospores – consist of a bud coming
off from the parent cell
SOME GENERA OF FUNGAL PATHOGENS:

Olpidium Physoderma
Synchytrium Mucor
Rhizopus Choanephora
Colletotrichum Phyllachora
Capnodium Ustilago
Puccinia Uromyces
Cercospora Stenocarpella
Curvularia Sclerotium
CONTROL OF FUNGAL DISEASES:
1. Sanitation in the field and after harvest
2. Rouging of diseased plants early in the
season
3. Use of resistant cultivars
4. Crop rotation if the pathogen has a limited
host range
5. Hot water treatment
6. Use of antagonists of plant pathogens
7. Control of insects and other vectors
8. Use of chemicals only when absolutely
necessary