Classification of Kingdom Fungi

Classification of Kingdom Fungi• Fungi are classified based on

the type or shape of their reproductive structures = sporangium.

There are 3 phyla:

1. Phylum MastigomycotaEx) Water Molds• Motile spores – flagella with

cellulose cell walls• Mainly saprophytes• Sexual and asexual

reproduction

2. Phylum Amastigomycota

• Non-motile spores with chitin cell walls.– There are 3 classes:

• Class Zygomycetes• Class Ascomycetes• Class Basidiomycetes

a) Class Zygomycetes (conjugation fungi):(zygote = fertilized egg; mycetes – thread)Ex) Rhizopus (Bread mold)

• Reproduction:– Sexually – zygospores– Asexually – spores.

• Some are saprophytes• NO dikaryotic stage

BLACK BREAD MOLD

Fruiting bodies: sporangia

Mycelium: vegetative portion

Life cycle of Zygomycetes (Rhizopus – Bread mold)

b) Class Ascomycetes (sac fungi)

• Sexual and asexual spores.– Sexual spores called ascospores– Asexual spores called conidia

b) Class Ascomycetes (contd)

• SHORT dikaryotic stage• Many pathogens of plants

ex) Dutch Elm’s diseaseMemory trick: “Asc” rearranges to

form “SAC”

ID - No mushrooms with gills are among the ascos

Life cycle Ascomycetes

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Examples:

YEASTYEAST

COTTONY COTTONY MOLDSMOLDS

MILDEWSMILDEWS

MORELSMORELS

TRUFFLETRUFFLESS

CUP CUP FUNGUSFUNGUS

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Sir Alexander Fleming

It acts by killing bacteria directly or by It acts by killing bacteria directly or by inhibiting their growth.inhibiting their growth.

PEN I C I LL I N

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•Mildew is a parasitic fungi.

•Often attacks the leaves of plants, usually those in shaded areas in humid regions.

•The white spores of the fungi produce a powdery pattern on the leaves and cause the leaves to curl and wither.

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This brown, brain-like fungus (a false morel) is poisonous and eating it can prove fatal. It is a CARCINOGEN.

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Every Spring, truffle hunters in Europe take to the woods, hoping that the sensitive noses of their trained pigs and dogs will lead

them to buried treasure.

•Have been collected for 3600 years

•Tantalizing taste & aroma

Price? $400/ounce

•Grow underground

•Hard to find

Truffles

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Aspergillus flavusGrows on peanuts (& other foods)

•Produces a TOXIN (called mycotoxin)

•When eaten, this causes vomiting, abdominal pain, pulmonary edema, convulsions, coma and death.

•It is also the most potent CARCINOGEN known to man. Long-term exposure to low levels of this mycotoxin will cause LIVER CANCER

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LICHENSAlgae + Ascomycetes fungus

SYMBIOSISSYMBIOSIS

Benefits of Ascomycetes Fungi Camembert and Brie cheeses.

Blue cheeses.

Soy sauce and Ketchup

PenicillinPenicillin

All of the various uses of lichens All of the various uses of lichens

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c) Class Basidiomycetes (club fungi)Ex) mushrooms, bracket

fungi, puff balls

c) Class Basidiomycetes (club fungi)

• Sexual spores only = Basidiospores produced on structures called basidia (No asexual spores)

• LONG dikaryotic stage• Many are pathogens ex) smuts & rusts

One of the largest of the edible fungi, reaching a width of several meters and a weight of several

kilograms. It typically grows on trees.

SULFUR FUNGUS

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•Round fruiting bodies that contain spores. They sit directly on the ground or on rotten wood.

•They range from golf ball size to as large as a watermelon.

•A large specimen can be almost two feet long and contain 7 trillion spores.

PUFFBALLS

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dry

wet

• Young, closed earthstars are onion-shaped. Their peridium (skin) is made up of three layers.

EARTHSTARS

• The layers allow the earthstar to do something no other fungus can do. Earthstars can move!

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Humungous Humungous FungusFungus

Where? Crystal Falls Michigan

What? Armillaria Bulbosa (‘honey

mushroom’) How big is it? Weighs 11 tons

Occupies over 37 acres!How old?

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Mushrooms follow the path made by fairies dancing in a ring.

FAIRY RING

• Mushrooms grow on the outer edges of the mycelium.

The body of this fungus, its mycelium, is underground. It grows outward in a circle. As it grows, the mycelium uses up all of the nutrients in the soil, starving the grass.

• Rings can grow outward at 20cm/yr.

• One ring formed in France is almost 600m in diameter. This ring is thought to be 700 years old.

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• Hallucinogenic & deadly poisonous mushroom.

Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, and severe diarrhea and can lead to coma and death.

Fly Agaric Mushroom

• Contains ibotenic acid and a number of other organic poisons.

• Can cause severe damage to the CNS, blood vessels, kidneys, liver, and muscles.

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MEMORY TRICK• Memory trick for the dikaryotic stage:

ZAB – no, short, long

Z = no dikaryotic stage for zygomycetesA = short dikaryotic stage for ascomycetesB = long dikaryotic stage for basidiomycetes

3. Phylum Deuteromycota

Ex) Athlete’s foot, ringworm, thrush, yeast infections.

• Imperfect fungi – resemble sac & club fungi (so imperfect)

• Asexual spores only – no sexual ones

• Pathogens of animals – ringworm, Athlete’s foot– PARASITES!!

Ringworm

Athletes foot

Abcess on lungs Diaper rash

Abcess on brain

Other Dermatophytes

Candida (thrush)

Potatoe Famine• Potatoe Blight (1800’s)

• This fungus infected the potatoes and caused a famine of great proportions.

• By the summer of 1847, almost 3 million people had either died or left Ireland for America.

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The caterpillar The caterpillar fungusfungus

What is it? A fruiting body produced by the fungus that lives on dead caterpillars of the moth Hepilus fabricius.

When the caterpillar dies, spores are spread to the next generation of caterpillars.

Today the most common way to prepare it is to stuff a duck with the caterpillar fungus, boil it, and then drink the hot liquid from the duck.

Chinese people have used this fungus as a tonic/medicine for thousands of years.

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Caterpillar fungus can be bought in Chinese drug stores for up to $53/pound.

•Some people believe the caterpillar fungus cures TB, coughing, anemia, and back and knee pains.

•Today, it is used to increase strength, decrease stress, or for rejuvenation after a long serious injury.

•Scientists are also using it to combat some types of cancer.

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You probably use fungal products every day without being aware of it.You probably use fungal products every day without being aware of it.

Mushrooms

Yeasts: bread, wine, & beer.

Drugs: cure diseases and stop the rejection of transplanted hearts and other organs.

Flavorings: for cooking

Vitamins

Enzymes: for removing stains

The ants cannot digest cellulose, but the fungus can.

By using the cellulose as food for its own growth, the fungus converts the cellulose into carbohydrates.

LEAF CUTTING ANTSCreate their food supply by creating a

‘fungi-garden’ that is mutually beneficial

The ants then eat the fungus.

IMPORTANCE OF FUNGIIMPORTANCE OF FUNGI

Decomposers

Genetic research: are harmless, reproduce quickly, and are cheap (ie: yeast)

Protection (antibiotics) – competitive inhibitors of bacteria

Some are edible (truffles, mushrooms, morels…), but watch out for the poisonouspoisonous ones!

Many are pathogens

Mycorrhizae Mycorrhizae (a close association with trees)

Medicinal purposes Medicinal purposes (as mentioned with lichens)