Fungi

Sprobes

▪ Saprobe – a type of heterotrophic decomposer

that extracts energy and carbon from dead
things, causing them to rot.
Fungal Traits and Classification

▪ Fungi are heterotrophs that obtain nutrition from their

environment by extracellular digestion
• Most are free-living
• Others live on or in other organisms

▪ They disperse by producing fungal spores

• Cells or clusters of cells, often with a thick wall
Structural Characteristics of Fungi

▪ Some fungi live as single cells (yeasts)

▪ Most are a multicelled (molds, mushrooms)
• Multicelled fungi grow as a mesh of branching
filaments (mycelium)
• Each filament is one hypha
Classification of Fungi

▪ Fungi are eukaryotic organisms(Doman Eukarya)

▪ Closest eukaryotic relatives are animals

• Within the Fungi

Kingdom, types are
classified based on
reproductive
structures.
• Most reproduce by
spores, however they
have different
structures for
making and releasing
them
Ecology of Fungi

▪ Decomposers: Some decompose organic

wastes and remains
• Help recycle nutrients in ecosystems
▪ Mutualists: Some form beneficial partnerships
with plants, photosynthetic cells (lichen), or
herbivores
▪ Parasites: Some are parasites or pathogens
Zygote Fungi and Relatives

▪ The other word for zygote fungi is

zygomycetes, named after their spores.

▪ Make up
multicellular molds
Zygote Fungi Reproduction

▪ Reproduction: produce a thick-walled diploid

spore (zygospore)
• During sexual reproduction, two mature strains of
hyphae (+ and -) meet. At the meeting point,
nuclei become fused to produce the zygospore.

▪ Most of their life cycle is spent as haploid

mycelium that has few or no crosswalls between
cells.
Typical Zygote Fungi

▪ Rhizopus species
• Include black bread mold, molds that spoil foods,
and the fungus that causes zygomycosis

▪ Pilobolus
• Produces specialized spore-bearing hyphae with
fluid-filled sacs that blast spores up to 2 meters
Pilobolus Crystallinus

https://youtu.be/TrKJAojmB1Y
Where Zygote Fungi Live

▪ Zygote fungi form a branching haploid mycelium

on dead organic material (saprobes), and inside
living plants and animals (as parasities or
mutualists)
Microsporidians – Intracellular Parasites

▪ Microsporidians are a subgroup that lives

inside animal cells; infections can be fatal
 Glomeromycetes – Plant Symbionts

▪ Glomeromycetes
are a related
group that
associate with
and benefit plants
Sac Fungi

▪ Sac fungi are the most

diverse fungal group and
are also known as
Ascomycetes
• Some are unicellular cells
(yeasts)
• In multicellular sac fungi,
a haploid mycelium
dominates the life cycle
Sexual Reproduction

▪ Sac fungi that reproduce sexually typically form

spores inside an ascus

▪ Asci
• Saclike structures that form on a fruiting body
(ascocarp) consisting of dikaryotic hyphae
Asexual Reproduction

▪ Single-celled yeasts
reproduce asexually by
budding

▪ Multicelled species
reproduce asexually by
formation of haploid spores
(conidia) at the tips of
specialized hyphae
Human Uses of Sac Fungi

▪ Food and beverages

• Baking yeast and fermentation (Saccharomyces,
Aspergillus), blue cheese (Penicillium)

▪ Drugs
• Antibiotics (Penicillium, Cephalosporium)
• Statins (Aspergillus)

▪ Natural herbicides and pesticides

• Arthrobotrys
Club Fungi—Basidiomycetes
Club Fungi—Basidiomycetes

▪ Club fungi are also known as Basidiomycetes

▪ Club fungi are multicelled fungi

▪ They form sexual spores inside club-shaped cells

that develop on a fruiting body (basidiocarp)
composed of interwoven diploid hyphae

▪ A diploid mycelium dominates the life cycle

Typical Club Fungi Anatomy
Club Fungus Diversity

▪ Club fungi make the largest and most elaborate

fruiting bodies of all fungi

▪ Club fungi include edible mushrooms

(chanterelles), poisonous mushrooms (death
cap), and plant pathogens (smuts and rusts)

▪ Club fungi are the only decomposers capable of

breaking down lignin (a tough organic chemical
strengthener) in plants and trees
 The Flagellated Fungi - Chytridiomycota
▪ Flagellated
Fungi are also
known as
Chytrids

▪ Are the only

modern fungi
with a life cycle
that includes
flagellated cells
The Fungal Symbionts

▪ Symbiont – Any organism that forms a

mutualistic relationship with another, by living
closely together (often inside one or the other).

▪ Fungi form associations with plants and with

single-celled photosynthetic species to form:
• Lichens
• Fungal endophytes
• Mycorrhizae
Lichens
Lichens
Lichens

▪ Lichen
• Consists of a fungus and photosynthetic cells
• A symbiotic interaction between a sac fungus (or
club fungus) and a green alga or cyanobacterium

▪ Mutualism
• The fungus benefits by obtaining the food that the
algae make through photosynthesis
• The aglae or bacteria benefits by getting shelter
from the protection of the fungal body.
Lichen Reproduction

▪ Lichens reproduce
asexually by
fragmentation
• Fungal partner
may release
spores, which
must contact a
photosynthetic
partner to grow
 Mycorrhizae – The Fungus-Root
▪ Mycorrhizae - A partnership between soil fungi and
tree roots
• Some hyphae form a dense net around roots but do
not penetrate them (forest mushrooms)
• Some hyphae penetrate root cells (glomeromycetes)
Mycorrhizae Function

▪ Mutualistic Benefits
• Fungus concentrates nutrients from the soil for
plant
• Plant supplies sugars to the fungus through
photosynthesis
An Unloved Few

▪ A minority of fungi are human or crop pathogens,

many of which are sac fungi.
• Athlete’s foot
• Vaginal yeast infection (Candida)
• Histoplasmosis – inhaled from soil. Can cause
breating problems in the elderly
• Valley fever (Coccidioides) – can impair immune
system in the elderly
• Ergotism (alkaloid poisoning, Claviceps) – can
cause hallucinations. Lead to Salem witchhunts.