Importance of Fungi in Agriculture

Photo: N. Goldberg, NMSU

Seminar in Mycology
CAg-CPROT ALE Review 2015
Zosimo G. Battad II
Mycology
Mycology - the study of fungi
Fungi - includes molds and yeasts.
Molds - exhibit filamentous type of growth.
Yeasts - exhibit pasty or mucoid form of fungal growth.
 Fungi stain gram positive, and require oxygen to survive.

 Fungi are eukaryotic, containing a nucleus bound by a

membrane, an endoplasmic reticulum, and mitochondria.

(Bacteria are prokaryotes and do not contain these)
 Fungi are heterotrophic like animals and most bacteria;

requiring organic nutrients as a source of energy.

(Plants are autotrophic)
 Fungi are eukaryotic, spore producing, achlorophyllous
organisms with absorptive nutrition that generally
reproduce both sexually and asexually and whose usually
filamentous, branched somatic structures, known as
hyphae, typically are surrounded by cell walls.

Fungi are dependent upon enzyme systems to derive

energy from organic substrates.
 Saprophytes - live on dead organic matter.
 parasites - live on living organisms.
Fungi are essential in recycling of elements,
especially carbon.
Basic terms as they relate to mycology:
• Hypha (hyphae plural) - fundamental tube-like
structural units of fungi.
– Septate - divided by cross walls.
– Aseptate - lacking cross walls.
• Mycelium - a mass (mat) of hyphae forming the
vegetative portion of the fungus.
– Aerial - growing or existing in the air.
– Vegetative - absorbs nutrients.
– Fertile - bears conidia (spores) for reproduction.
Basic Terms (continued)
Sporulation & Spores - preferred terms when there is a merging of
nuclear material. Self-fertile are termed homothallic. Mating types are
termed heterothallic.
• Sexual spores - exhibit fusion of nuclei.
– Ascospore - spore formed in a sac-like cell known as an ascus.
Often eight (8) spores formed. (Ascomycetes)
– Basidiospore - sexual spore produced on a specialized club-
shaped structure, called a basidium. (Basidiomycetes)
– Zygospore - a thick-walled spore formed during sexual
reproduction (Phycomycetes)
Sporulation & Spores (continued)
• Asexual spores - most common type.
– Conidia - asexual fungal spores borne externally in various ways
from a conidiophore; often referred to a macroconidia (multicellular)
and microconidia (unicellular).
– Arthroconidium (Arthrospore) - special type of asexual spore formed
by disarticulation of the mycelium.
– Blastoconidia (Blastospore) - asexual spore formed from a budding
process along the mycelium or from another blastospore.
• Asexual Spores (continued)
– Chlamydospore - thick-walled asexual spore
formed by direct differentiation of the mycelium
(concentration of protoplasm and nutrients).
– Sporangiospore - an asexual spore contained in
a sporangium at the end of a sporangiophore.
 Arthrospores

1A

Chlamydospores

1
Conidiospores

3
1B
Sporangiospores
Blastospores
Miscellanous terms:
• Ascus - sac-like structure containing (usually eight)
ascospores developed during sexual reproduction in the
Ascomycetes.
• Conidiophore - a specialized branch of hypha on which
conidia are developed.
• Dematiaceous - pigmented, dark in color, usually gray to
black.
• Hyaline - colorless, clear.
• Dermatophyte - fungus that causes superficial mycoses.
Miscellanous terms: (continued)
• Diphasic (dimorphic) - the ability of some fungi to grow as
either yeast or filamentous stages, depending on conditions.
• Ectothrixic - ability of the fungus to grow on the outside of a
hair shaft.
• Endothrixic - ability of the fungus to grow and penetrate into
the hair shaft.
• Germ Tube - small projections which arise from cells of
certain yeasts; indicates the onset of hyphal formation.
Miscellanous terms: (continued)
• Pseudohyphae - a chain of elongated budding cells that
have failed to detach (not true hyphae).
• Rhizoids - root-like structures.
• Sterigmata - a specialized structure that arises from a
basidium and supports basidiospores.
AGRICULTURE?

Agriculture which is also
called farming or husbandry is the
cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and
other life forms for food, fibre, biofuel and
other products used to sustain life.
ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF
FUNGI.
Fungi importance can be summarized
into
FOE: Plant Diseases, Animal
Mycoses, Mycotoxins, Spoilage and

FRIEND: Useful metabolite, Biological

Control and in Forestry – Mycorrhizal
Associations.
 FOES:
MYCOTOXIN
Many fungi produce biologically
active compounds, several of
which are toxic to animals or
plants and are therefore
called mycotoxins.
EXAMPLES:
Amatoxin – food spoilage & poisonous produced by Amanita
mushroom
Ergot Alkaloids – St. Anthony’s Fire found on the sclerotia of
ergot fungus, Claviceps purpurea.
Aflatoxin – highly carcinogenic metabolite produced by some
Aspergillus sp.

above mentioned mycotoxin could impact livestock and cause

devastating economic loss to production.
Mycotoxin in Corn
PLANT DISEASES
The majority of phyto-pathogenic fungi belong to
the Ascomycetes  and the Basidiomycetes. They
could be Biotrophic fungal e.g Powdery Mildew
that colonizes living plant tissue and obtain
nutrients from living host cells or Necrotrophic
fungal e.g Rice Blast that infect and kill host
tissue and extract nutrients from the dead host
cells.
Powdery Mildew Rice Blast
Disease
Examples
ASCOMYCETES
Fusarium spp. (causal agents of Fusarium
wilt disease)
Magnaporthe grisea (causal agent of blast
of rice and gray leaf spot in turf grasses)
BASIDIOMYCETES
Phakospora pachyrhizi (causal agent of
soybean rust)
Puccinia spp. (causal agents of severe rusts
of virtually all cereal grains and cultivated
grasses)
OOMYCETES - not true fungi but are fungus-like
organisms, includes some of the most destructive plant
pathogens.
Phytophthora spp.; extremely destructive, causal agents
of potato late blight and sudden oak death. Particular
species of oomycetes are responsible for root rot and
blights of Solanaceous crops.
Some species of Nematospora can attack tomatoes,
cotton and bean plants.
Similar disease like causal organisms:
Stem rust of wheat – Puccinia graministice
Early blight of potato – Alternaria solani
White rust of crucifer – Albugo candida
ANIMAL MYCOSES
Dermatophytes e.g Malassezia spp significant due to their
economic consequences of infection in farm animal and fur
production systems.
Coccidioidomycosis e.g Coccidioides immitis disease of
the lungs and other tissues, caused by inhaling the fungus
spores.
Pythiosis e.g Pythium insidiosum characterized by enlarging
subcutaneous abscesses that destroy the overlying skin in
dogs and horses.
Aspergillus fumigatus is a major problem in birds especially
where mould feeds is given to bird.
Epitheliotrophic Lymphoma, Mycosis fungiodes
SPOILAGE
A wide range of thermophilic and thermo-
tolerant fungi can cause spoilage of grain,
nuts, hay, palm kernels and other
agricultural crops.
Some fungi destroy materials for example
attacking textile materials, paper, leather
etc.
Common food damaging fungi
are Aspergillus, Penicillium, Mucor and 
Rhizopus.
Food Spoilage
 FRIENDS:
BIOLOGICAL CONTROL
Competitive Exclusion Principle fungi may be useful if
they actively compete for nutrients and space
with pathogenic  microorganisms such as bacteria or
other fungi.
Entomopathogenic Fungi (parasite of insect) e.g
Beauveria bassiana can be used as bio-pesticide.
Endophytic Fungi (lives within plant) e.g Neotyphodium
coenophialum produce alkaloids that are toxic to a range
of invertebrate and vertebrate herbivores.
Enthomopathogenic Fungi
Endophytic Fungi
MYCOREMEDIATION
The use of fungi to
degrade contaminant in
agricultural land.
Certain fungi, in
particular "white rot"
fungi, can
degrade insecticides, her
bicides, coal tars, and
heavy fuels and turn them
Mycoremediation
MYCORRHIZAE
associations between fungal hyphae and the roots of
plants. Being saprophytes they decompose the
organic matter and enhance the fertility of the soil. e.g
the hyphae of some fungi as Boletus, Phallus,
Scleroderma, Amantia, Tricholoma etc.
There are two types:
Endomycorrhizae (the fungal hyphae enters the cells
of the plant root.)
Ectomycorrhizae (the fungus forms associations with
plant roots, but does not actually enter the root cells. )
Mycorrhizae - Glomus tenue
USEFUL METABOLITE &
PLANT GROWTH HORMONE

Amylase produced by
Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus oryzae

Digestin gotten from Aspergillus flavus

Invertase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae 

Vitamin B-complex & Riboflavin produced by

all yeast

Gibberellin (Plant growth hormone) produced by

Gibberella fujikuroi 
Review Questions:

Fungi are ________, (“other feeding”)

which are organisms that feed preformed
organic material; in contrast, plants are
________, (“self-feeding”) capable of
producing their own food by
photosynthesis.

A. Autotrophic
B. Saprotrophic
C. Heterotrophic
D. Phototrophic
Review Questions:

These are substances produced by fungi and

some bacteria that are secreted into the
environment, where it is used to digest
food particles into small molecules that
can be absorbed and used by the fungus.

A. Mycotoxins
B. Exoenzymes
C. Phytotoxins
D. Metabolites
Review Questions:

A compound seen in the cell walls of fungi

that is also present in exoskeletons of
crustaceans.

A. Biotin
B. Prostaglandin
C. Glycerol
D. Chitin
Review Questions:

Most molds are aerobes, while yeasts are

_________, capable of growing with or
without oxygen.

A. Obligate aerobes
B. Obligate anaerobes
C. Facultative anaerobes
D. Anaerobes
produces ATP when oxygen is present
and switching to fermentation when
oxygen is absent. Which is more
effective in producing energy/ATP?
Review Questions:

A unique sterol found in fungal cell

membranes that replaces cholesterol found
in mammalian cell membranes.

A. Phytosterol
B. Ergosterol
C. Campesterol
D. Zoosterol
Review Questions:

Specialized hyphal structures that allow

active penetration of plant host tissues
via mechanical and enzymatic activity.

A. Appresoria
B. Conidiophore
C. Sterigmata
D. Mycelia
The ability of fungi and FLOs to
actively penetrate healthy plants is
undoubtedly a contributing factor for
their place collectively as the most
important group of plant pathogens.
(Also a main difference of fungi vs
bacteria and virus.)
Review Questions:

Name the fungus commonly known as the

“bread mold”.

A. Rhizobium leguminosarum
B. Rhizopus stolonifer
C. Rhizoctonia solani
D. Penicillium notatum
This is also the causative agent of
soft rot of papaya.
Review Questions:

The causative agent of rice blast.

A. Pyricularia grisea
B. Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae
C. Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzicola
D. Magnaporthe grisea
E. Rhizoctonia solani
A. Anamorph B. BlB C. BlS D.
Teleomorph
Review Questions:

The causative agent of sheath blight in

rice.
A.Thanatephorus cucumeris
B. Rhizoctonia oryzae
C. Magnaporthe salvinii
D. Alternaria padwickii

A. Teleomorph B. Sheath Spot C. Stem

rot D. Alternaria leaf spot
Review Questions:

The causative agent of rice leaf smut.

A. Ustilaginoidea virens
B. Entyloma oryzae
C. Sphaerulina oryzina
D. Schelorophthora
marcospora

A. False smut B. rice leaf smut C.

Narrow brown leaf spot D. Downy
mildew
Review Questions:

The causative agent rice ‘tungro’ disease.

Tungro is not caused by

a fungi or bacteria. It
is transferred by an
insect vector
Nephotettix virescens.
It is caused by two
viruses, RTSV and RTBV.
REFERENCES
All images from Google Image

Alexopoulos C.J, Mims C.W., Blackwell M. “Introductory

Mycology” 4th edition (1996) John Willey & Sons Inc

John Webster & R.W.S Weber (2007) “Introduction to Fungi” 3rd

edition Cambridge University Press

Prescott, Harley and Klein ‘‘Microbiology” 5th edition The

McGraw-Hill Company, 2002

Sharma O. P. (2011) “Fungi and Allied Microbes” McGraw Hill, 7

west Patel Nagar, New Delhi

http://www.apsnet.org/publications/commonnames/Pages/Rice.aspx - Rice diseases

Georgetta Seigel, Microbiology Lecture 205.