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The Fungus Among Us

The Fungus Among Us. The strange and fascinating world of our most visible decomposers. What we WON’T do:. Learn to identify edible mushrooms Freak out because there are approximately 10,000 fungal spores in each cubic meter of air

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The Fungus Among Us

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  1. The Fungus Among Us The strange and fascinating world of our most visible decomposers

  2. What we WON’T do: • Learn to identify edible mushrooms • Freak out because there are approximately 10,000 fungal spores in each cubic meter of air • Panic because we have Pneumocystis carinii living in our lungs right now (yes, YOUR lungs)

  3. What we WILL do: • Learn about unique reproduction strategies • Appreciate that fungi are essential for life on this planet • Delight in all the ways that fungi make our lives richer

  4. Characteristics of Fungi • Eukaryotic heterotrophs • digestion is external • Chitin in cell walls • same chemical as found in insect exoskeletons • Dikaryotic stage (some) • cells fuse (plasmogamy) but nuclei don’t! • therefore cells are n+n instead of 2n

  5. Terminology • -gamy = marriage or fusion • -karyon = nucleus -plasm = gel inside cell • -ploid = sets of chromosomes (1n, 2n) • spore = 1n cell that can germinate into a fully functional 1n cell myco = fungus

  6. Functions • saprobes (decomposers) • up to armpits in dead bodies without them • nutrient cycles come to a halt (carbon, nitrogen, etc.) • parasites/pathogens • you name it, including other fungi • mutualists • you name it • especially important: plants (~ 90% of all plants MUST have fungal associations)

  7. Ectomycorrhizae vs. Arbuscular mycorrhizae

  8. Unicellular fungi = yeast Multicellular: functional unit = hypha mushroom = fruiting body

  9. Chytrids ONLY fungi with motile cells

  10. http://frogmatters.wordpress.com/2008/03/ Chytrid infection of frogs has caused extinction of several species across the world. Ease of global travel has exacerbated the problem. http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/animals/FrogChytridFungus.htm

  11. Glomeromycota: ONLY reproduce asexually, NONE are unicellular EXTREMELY important function: arbuscular mycorrhizae from: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.nature.com/ncomms/journal/v1/n4/images_article/ncomms1046-f4.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.nature.com/ncomms/journal/v1/n4/full/ncomms1046.html&usg=__7YegfK1Kf9F35TIwzcySA-_ewp0=&h=411&w=600&sz=80&hl=en&start=21&sig2=8ks-42yCpXd5mTIoNyp4YA&zoom=1&tbnid=eVz-gQfOr2MucM:&tbnh=112&tbnw=163&ei=pending&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dglomerulomycete%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1276%26bih%3D558%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C503&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=829&vpy=179&dur=2964&hovh=186&hovw=271&tx=129&ty=120&oei=2E6WTPvYIc6dnwel0MyeBw&esq=2&page=2&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:12,s:21&biw=1276&bih=558

  12. Glomeromycota

  13. WEIRD! http://life8eiml.sinauer.com/Animations/Chapter30/Animation-30-01.swf

  14. aka Cup Fungi

  15. Saccharomyces cerevisiae favorite ‘cup’ fungus = Brewer’s & Baker’s yeast!! Penicilium varieties responsible for Roquefort cheese and antibiotics!

  16. http://americanmushrooms.com/coolest.htm

  17. Mushroom Structure http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://fungalguide.landcareresearch.co.nz/Images/MushroomDiagram.jpg&imgrefurl=http://fungalguide.landcareresearch.co.nz/WebForms/FG_About.aspx&usg=__MPTyhWk_-4gq6NXoTEPNv879uFo=&h=490&w=500&sz=50&hl=en&start=0&sig2=LQ_ilJDUBLdMLQWzxs_WHA&zoom=1&tbnid=JVlyrP5HGZ2xLM:&tbnh=132&tbnw=135&ei=dl-WTJi1HIe2nAelxeWlBw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmushroom%2Bstructure%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1276%26bih%3D558%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=1006&vpy=60&dur=187&hovh=222&hovw=227&tx=133&ty=132&oei=dl-WTJi1HIe2nAelxeWlBw&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:0

  18. http://healthyhomegardening.com/Most_Viewed_Pages.php?m1=12 3 feet in length, ~20 lbs! http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/3839363.stm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF65xGRNfwo

  19. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GScyw3ammmk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1E48_W0DS4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7Qem8OloIY&feature=related

  20. Common smut (Ustilago maydis) on an ear of corn.

  21. Deuteromycete Pneumocystis carinii in human sputum.

  22. Penicillium sp. growing on agar.

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