Fungi

1. By: Toniqua Fagan & Geti Faize Fungi

2. Introduction • Fungi contains heterotrophic eukaryotic organisms called saprobes • they absorb food from decaying matter • releases digestive enzymes into their environment that break down organic matter • once matter is broken down, fungi absorbs food through the cell wall

3. Reproduction • reproduce asexually and sexually with spores • fungi with spores in a case like structure are called sporangium – which are placed in the division Zygomycota • fungi with spores in a saclike structure are called an ascus and are placed in the division Ascomycota • fungi with spores that form in a clublike structure are called basidium and are placed in the division Basidiomycota

4. Case-Like Fungi • these are terrestrial saprobes, known as bread mould • tangled mass of mycelium grows and produces several types of hyphae • as the hyphae make contact with the food they extend into the food sources • hyphae known as rhizoids and support further growth in the mould • there are 2 genetically different types of hyphae (plus and minus) • when it makes contact with each other in a conjugation process, the nuclei join together to produce a zygospore • eventually this zygospore forms a new mycelia mass

5. Sac-like Fungi • included mildews, some moulds and yeasts • they form two kinds of spores • produce ascospores sexually and conidia asexually • yeasts are unicellular and reproduce quickly by budding • they form in one stage of their life cycle • can tolerate conditions lacking in oxygen and carry out respiration • this fermentation ability is an advantage for the baking industry but not all yeasts are useful; some cause infections on the skin, lungs and kidneys

6. Club-like Fungi • includes mushrooms, rusts, smuts, puffballs, and bracket fungi • occur under damp conditions in soil or rotting wood • when the mycelia mass of hyphae grows large, they push through the soil • the umbrella-like cap of each species of mushroom contains many gills (thin sheets) which have reproductive cells called basidia

7. “Imperfect” Fungi • these are some species that have no known sexual phases and so cannot be classified into divisions • many of them cause diseases in plant and animals, including humans • penicillian inhibits growth of bacteria and it was the 1st antibiotic to come into medical use to fight infectious diseases caused by bacteria

8. Fungal Associations • certain fungi associate with other fungi for the benefit of both • lichens are symbiotic associations of a fungus with either an alga or cyanobacterium • the algae provides nourishment to fungus through photosynthesis and the fungus provides algae with water, essential minerals, and protection from dryness • mycorrhizae is the association with plant roots • fungal mycelium absorbs water and minerals from soil which passes to the root and the plant provides fungus with amino acids and sugar