Chap 5 Part 1 Fungi

Chap 5 Part 1
Fungi
 Kingdom  Fungi
 Mycology – The study of fungi Mycologist – The person who studies the fungi
 Fungi are found almost everywhere on earth.
 Some living on organic matter in water and soil
 The saprophytic fungi
 Others living on and within animals and plants
 The parasitic fungi
 Other living on unlikely materials
 Causing deterioration of leather and plastics and spoilage of jams, pickles, and many other
foods.
 Beneficial fungi are important in the production of:
 Cheeses, beer, wine, and other foods, as well as certain drugs (e.g., the immunosuppressant
drug cyclosporine) and antibiotics (e.g., penicillin)
 Fungi are a diverse group of eucaryotic organisms that include yeasts, molds, and mushrooms
 Fungi as saprophytes, their main source of food is dead and decaying organic matter
 Fungi are the “garbage disposers” of nature
 Fungi are the “vultures” of the microbial world.
 Fungi are the original “recyclers”
 By secreting digestive enzymes into dead plant and animal matter, they decompose this
material into absorbable nutrients for themselves and other living organisms
 Fungi are not plants
 They are not photosynthetic
 They have no chlorophyll or other photosynthetic pigments.
 Fungal cell walls contain a polysaccharide called chitin, which is not found in the cell walls of any
other microorganisms
 While the cell walls of algal and plant cells contain cellulose (a polysaccharide)
 Chitin is also found in the exoskeletons of arthropods
 Although many fungi are unicellular (e.g., yeasts), others grow as filaments called hyphae (sing.,
hypha), which intertwine to form a mass called a mycelium (pl., mycelia) or thallus
 Basically, hyphae forms together to become mycelium
 Thus, they are quite different from bacteria, which are always unicellular
 Also remember that bacteria are procaryotic, whereas fungi are eucaryotic
 Vegetative structure
 Septate hyphae
 Meaning that the cytoplasm within the hypha is divided into cells by cross-walls or septa
 Aseptate hyphae
 The cytoplasm within the hypha is not divided into cells, no septa
 Vegetative hyphae – concerned with obtaining nutrients
 Reproductive hyphae (aerial hyphae) – involved in reproduction
Reproduction
 Fungal cells can reproduce by

 Budding, hyphal extension, or the formation of spores (sexual or asexual)
 Sexual spores are produced by the fusion of two gametes (thus, by the fusion of two nuclei)
 Sexual spores have a variety of names (e.g., ascospores, basidiospores, zygospores), depending
on the exact manner in which they are formed.
 Fungi are classified taxonomically in accordance with the type of sexual spore that they produce or
the type of structure on which the spores are produced
 Asexual spores are formed in many different ways, but not by

the fusion of gametes
 Asexual spores are also called conidia (sing., conidium).
 Some species of fungi produce both asexual and sexual spores.

 Fungal spores are very resistant structures that are carried
great distances by wind.
 They are resistant to heat, cold, acids, bases, and other chemicals.
 Many people are allergic to fungal spores.
Classification
 The taxonomic classification of fungi changes periodically.

 One current classification divides the Kingdom Fungi into five phyla
 Classification of fungi into these phyla is based primarily on their mode of sexual reproduction
The two phyla known as “lower fungi” are the:
 Zygomycotina (or Zygomycota)

 Conjugation fungi
 Form sexual zygospore and asexual sporangiospore
 Hyphae are coenocytic
 Common bread molds (amag) and other fungi that causes food spoilage
 Chytridiomycotina (or Chytridiomycota)
 Hyphae are coenocytic
 Sexual oospore, asexual motile zoospore
 Phytopthora infestans – potato blight
 Killed of Ireland’s potato crop, during 1854, 1846 and 1848, and caused 1 million deaths due
to starvation and malnutrition. Then 800,000 were forced out (no rent)
The two phyla known as “higher fungi” are the:
 Ascomycotina (or Ascomycota)

 Sac fungi
 Form septate hyphae
 Sexual spore: ascospores, asexual: conidiospores
 Plant diseases: “Dutch elm disease”
 Basidiomycotina (or Basidiomycota) (mushrooms)
 Club fungi
 Form septate
 Sexual: Basidiospores. Asexual: conidiospores
Other Phylum
 Deuteromycotina
 No mode of sexual reproduction
 Fungi imperfecti
 Aspergillus and penicillium
Yeast
 Yeasts are eucaryotic single-celled (unicellular) organism

 Individual yeast cells, sometimes referred to as blastospores or blastoconidia,
can only be observed using a microscope
 They usually reproduce by budding, but occasionally do so by a type of spore
formation.
 Sometimes a string of elongated buds is formed; this string of elongated buds is
called a pseudohypha
 It resembles a hypha, but it is not a hypha
 Some yeasts produce thick-walled, spore like structures called chlamydospores (or
chlamydoconidia)
 Yeasts are found in soil and water and on the skins of many fruits and vegetables.
 The common yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae (“baker’s yeast”) ferments sugar to alcohol under
anaerobic conditions.
 Under aerobic conditions, this yeast breaks down simple sugars to carbon dioxide and water; for
this reason, it has long been used to leaven light bread
 Yeasts are also a good source of nutrients for humans because they produce many vitamins and
proteins.
 In the laboratory, yeasts produce colonies that are quite similar in appearance to bacterial colonies
 To distinguish between a yeast colony and a bacterial colony, a wet mount can be performed
 Yeasts are usually larger than bacteria (ranging from 3 to 8 um in diameter) and are usually oval-
shaped
 Some may be observed in the process of budding
 Bacteria do not produce buds.

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Chap 5 Part 1

 Fungal cells can reproduce by

 Asexual spores are formed in many different ways, but not by

 Some species of fungi produce both asexual and sexual spores.

 The taxonomic classification of fungi changes periodically.

The two phyla known as “lower fungi” are the:

 Zygomycotina (or Zygomycota)

The two phyla known as “higher fungi” are the:

 Ascomycotina (or Ascomycota)

 Yeasts are eucaryotic single-celled (unicellular) organism

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