Kingdom Fungi
Kingdom Fungi
Kingdom Fungi
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2. BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION
3. KINGDOM FUNGI
- It is a unique kingdom of heterotrophic organisms.
- Fungi are cosmopolitan.
- They grow in warm and humid places.
- E.g. mould on bread & rotten fruits, mushroom, toadstools.
- White spots on mustard leaves are due to a parasitic fungus.
- Some fungi are the source of antibiotics, e.g., Penicillium.
- Some unicellular fungi (e.g. yeast) are used to make bread and beer.
- Other fungi cause diseases in plants and animals. E.g. wheat rust-causing Puccinia.
- Except yeasts, fungi are filamentous. Their bodies consist of thread-like structures called hyphae.
- The network of hyphae is known as mycelium.
o Coenocytic hyphae: They are continuous tubes filled with multinucleated cytoplasm.
o Septate hyphae: They have septae or cross walls.
Reproduction:
- When a fungus reproduces sexually, two haploid hyphae of compatible mating types come together and fuse.
- In some fungi, the fusion of two haploid cells immediately results in diploid cells (2n).
- In ascomycetes and basidiomycetes, a dikaryotic stage or dikaryophase (n + n i.e. two nuclei per cell) occurs. Such a condition is
called a dikaryon. Later, parental nuclei fuse and the cells become diploid.
- The fungi form fruiting bodies in which reduction division occurs, leading to formation of haploid spores.
Based on morphology of mycelium, mode of spore formation & fruiting bodies, Fungi are classified into different classes:
1. Phycomycetes
2. Ascomycetes
3. Basidiomycetes
4. Deuteromycetes
- They occur in aquatic habitats and on decaying wood in moist and damp places or as obligate parasites on plants.
- The mycelium is aseptate and coenocytic.
- Asexual reproduction: By motile zoospores or by non-motile aplanospores. These are produced in sporangium.
- Sexual reproduction: Zygospores are formed by fusion of two gametes. These gametes are isogamous (similar in morphology) or
anisogamous or oogamous (dissimilar).
- E.g. Mucor, Rhizopus (bread mould) and Albugo (parasitic fungi on mustard).
III. Basidiomycetes
IV. Deuteromycetes
- Commonly known as imperfect fungi because only their asexual or vegetative phases are known.
- When perfect (sexual) stages were discovered, they were often moved to ascomycetes or basidiomycetes.
- It is also possible that asexual and vegetative stage have been given one name placing under deuteromycetes and the sexual stage
another name placing under another class. When the linkages were established, the fungi were correctly identified and moved out of
deuteromycetes.
- They reproduce only by asexual spores (conidia).
- The mycelium is septate and branched.
- Some are saprophytes or parasites. Majority are decomposers of litter and help in mineral cycling.
- E.g. Alternaria, Colletotrichum and Trichoderma.
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