Fungi

Fungi are saprophytic and parasitic spore-producing eukaryotic typically filamentous organisms
formerly classified as plants that lack chlorophyll and include molds, rusts, mildews, smuts,
mushrooms, and yeasts.
A fungus is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms
such as yeasts and molds, these organisms are classified as a kingdom “Fungi”. Which is
separated from the other eukaryotic life kingdom of plants and animals.

General characteristics of fungi:

Fungi are more closely related to animals then plants.
General characteristics of fungi are given below:

Structure:

 Fungi have cell walls. Cell walls are composed mainly of a carbohydrate called chitin.
 Fungi have a vegetative body called a thallus, composed of hyphae.

 The thallus or body of a fungus may consist of filaments 5 to 10 micrometer across,

which are commonly branched. The yeast cell or mold filament is surrounded by a true
cell wall(the exception being the slime molds, which have a thallus consisting of a naked
amoeboid mass of protoplasm ).

 Fungus are non-vascular organisms.

Size:

Fig.:Larger Fungi Fig: Microscopic Fungi

 The sizes of fungi very greatly depending on the type of fungus. In general most
microscopic or smaller fungi are 2 to 10 micrometers in diameter.
 Macroscopic mushrooms are much larger, these range in size from 8to10 inches and
heights of 10 to 12 inches. Some larger fungi are also found.

Shared features:

 With other eukaryotes: Fungal cells contain membrane-bound nuclei with

chromosomes that contain DNA with noncoding regions called introns and
coding regions called exons. Fungi have membrane-bound cytoplasmic
organelles such as mitochondria, sterol-containing membranes, and ribosomes
of the 80S type. They have a characteristic range of soluble carbohydrates and
storage compounds, including sugar alcohols (e.g., mannitol), disaccharides,
(e.g., trehalose), and polysaccharides (e.g., glycogen, which is also found in
animals.
 With animals: Fungi lack chloroplasts and are heterotrophic organisms and so
require preformed organic compounds as energy sources.
 With plants: Fungi have a cell wall and vacuoles. They reproduce by both sexual
and asexual means, and like basal plant groups (such as ferns and mosses)
produce spores. Similar to mosses and algae, fungi typically have haploid nuclei.
  With euglenoids and bacteria: Higher fungi, euglenoids, and some bacteria
produce the amino acid L-lysine in specific biosynthesis steps, called the α-
aminoadipate pathway.

Digestion of food:
Fungi digest food outside their bodies, they release enzymes into the surrounding
environment breaking down organic matter into a form the fungus can absorb.

Source of energy:
Fungi are heterotropic, they use complex organic compounds as sources of energy and
carbon, not photosynthesis.

Food storage:
Food reserves stores as glycogen (like animals) not starch (like plants ).

Reproduction
They reproduce by means of spores. Spores maybe either sexual or asexual. Some
fungi show only one known reproduction type. Asexual forms (anamorph) were often described
separately and given different names than the sexual form (teleomoph). The complete form
having both reproductive forms is called a holomorph. Fungi known only as anamorphs were
previously grouped into the form-group Deuteromycetes (Fungi Imperfect). This group is not
used anymore, because with molecular phylogenetic techniques the systematic position of a
fungus can be determined even if the sexual structures are not known.

Fig: Reproduction of fungi

  sexual reproduction of fungi:
Sexual reproduction of the main fungal groups differs significantly between each other
and even within those groups.
Oomycetes produce gametangia. The oogonium contains haploid oocytes produced by meioses.
Beside the oogonium, antheridia develop and produce haploid nuclei via meioses. These nuclei
migrate to oogonia across a fertilization tube developed by the oogonium to fertilize an oocyte.
Their fusion produces diploid oospores that germinate and produce coenocytic non-septate
hyphae with many nuclei. This life cycle is diploid. Differences in lifecycles occur within the
group: different numbers of oocytes develop in the oogonia, and the oospores can produce not
only coenocytic hyphae but also sporangium-producing zoospores. Both the oogonia and the
antheridia can produce hormones that reciprocally stimulate and regulate their development.

 Asexual reproduction of fungi:

A great diversity of structures and forms aid asexual reproduction of fungi. The most
important probably are the asexual mitospores that can develop in closed sporangia, or the
internal or terminal parts of hyphae that develop into resting spores (chlamydospores). Conidia
are asexual non-motile spores produced exogenously. Conidia play fundamental roles in
dispersal of many fungi and can even be the exclusive dispersal structures of anamorphic fungi.

Classification of fungi:

Fungi are usually classified according to biological taxonomy based upon the type of
hypae, spore and reproduction. There are four classes of fungi, whose characteristics
are shown in table:

A. Class Phycomycetes:

The algal fungi breed molds and leaf molds. The only know mycosis (fungal disease)
caused by fungi of this class is mucormycosis. Every rare fungal growth of the upper
respiratory tract, branchial mucosa and lungs. It occurs largely as a complication of
chronic, debilitating disease such as un controlled diabetes.

B. Class Ascomycetes:
The sac: yeasts, mildews and cheese molds. Fungi of this class are implicated in only
three fungus diseases, all of which are rare.
C. Class Basidiomycetes:

Mushrooms, toadstools, rusts and smuts. The only pathogens in this class are the
mushrooms of the genus Amanita, which cause severe systemic poisoning (sometimes
death).

D. Class Deuteromycetes:

Fungi imperfect, a heterogenous collection of fungi without sexual reproduction. Most

of pathogens encountered in medical mycology belongs to this group.

Taxanomic Hypa Type of Characteri Origin Example pathogen

class of fungi reproduc stics spore spore of fungi icity
tion
Phycomyctes Aspt Asexuall sporangios Sporangio Nuisance Very rare
ate y pore spore Fungi mocuro
including myco sis
general
Sexually Zygospore Fussion of Absidia,
nuclei Mucor
and
Rhizopus
Ascomycetes Sept Asexuall Blastospor Budding Allescheri Rare
ate y e a, moduro
Aspergulli mesis
s
Sexually Ascospore Ascus Saccharo
myces
Basidiomycetes Sept Sexually Basidiospo Basidium Mushroo Rare
ate re ms, smuts mushroo
and rusts m
poisonin
g
Deuteromycete Sept Asexuall Thallospor Thallus(hy Most Most
s(Fungi ate y e pa) saprophyt mycosis
imperfect) es and encounte
pathogens red in
encounter medical
ed in mycology
mycology
 Yeast

Any of various eukaryotic small, single celled fungi of the phylum ascomycota that
reproduce by fission or budding, the daughter cell often remaining attached and that are
capable of fermenting carbohydrates into alcohol and carbon dioxide.

General characteristics:
Yeast is actually a living organism, therefore it has the characteristics of a living
organism.
For example, reproduction, homeostasis, and the likes.
General characteristics of yeast is given below:

 Yeast are chemoorganotrophs .

 They use organic compounds as a source of energy and do not require sunlight
to grow.
 They are obtained mostly from hexose sugars, such as glucose and fructose or
disaccharides such as sucrose and maltose. Some species on metabolize pentose
sugars such as ribose.
 Yeast species either require oxygen for aerobic cellular respiration or are
anaerobic.
 Most yeast grow best in a neutral or slightly acidic pH environment.
 Yeast vary regard to the temperature range in which they grow they grow best.
For example, Leucosporidium frigidum grows at -2C to 20C, Saccharomyces
telluris at 5C to 35C.

Morphology:

The form of yeasts may be spherical to ovoid, lemon shaped, pear shaped, cylindrical,
triangular or even elongated into a false or true mycelium. They also differ in size.
Visible parts of the structure are the cell wall, cytoplasm, water vacuoles, fat globules
and granules which maybe metachromatic, albuminous or starchy.
Culture:
It is difficult to tell yeast colonies from bacterial ones on agar plates; the only certain
way is by means of microscopic examination of the organisms. Most young yeast
colonies are moist and somewhat slimy but may appear mealy; most colonies are
whitish but some are cream coloured or pink. Some colonies change little with age but
others become dry and wrinkled.

Reproduction:

Most yeast reproduces asexually by multilateral or polar budding, a process in

which some of the protoplasm bulges out the cell wall; the bulge grows in size and
finally walls off as a new yeast cell. A few species of yeasts reproduce by fission and one
reproduces by a combination of fission and budding.

Yeasts, like all fungi, may have asexual and sexual reproductive cycles. The most
common mode of vegetative growth in yeast is asexual reproduction by budding. Here,
a small bud (also known as a bleb), or daughter cell, is formed on the parent cell. The
nucleus of the parent cell splits into a daughter nucleus and migrates into the daughter
cell. The bud continues to grow until it separates from the parent cell, forming a new
 cell. The daughter cell produced during the budding process is generally smaller than
the mother cell. Some yeasts, including Schizosaccharomyces pombe, reproduce by
fission instead of budding, thereby creating two identically sized daughter cells.

Physiological:

Yeasts may change in their physiological characteristics, especially the true or ascospore
forming yeasts which have asexual method of reproduction. Most yeast can be adapted
to conditions which previously would not support good growth. Illustrative of different
characteristics within a species is the large number of strains of Saccharomyces
cerevisiae suited to different uses, e.g., bread strains, beer strains, wine strains and high
alcohol producing strains or varieties.

Nutrition and growth:

Yeasts are chemoorganotrophs, as they use organic compounds as a source of energy
and do not require sunlight to grow. Carbon is obtained mostly from hexose sugars, such as
glucose and fructose, or disaccharides such as sucrose and maltose. Some species can
metabolize pentose sugars such as ribose, alcohols, and organic acids. Yeast species either
require oxygen for aerobic cellular respiration (obligate aerobes) or are anaerobic, but also
have aerobic methods of energy production (facultative anaerobes). Unlike bacteria, no known
yeast species grow only anaerobically (obligate anaerobes). Most yeasts grow best in a neutral
or slightly acidic pH environment.
Yeasts vary in regard to the temperature range in which they grow best. For example,
Leucosporidium frigidum grows at −2 to 20 °C (28 to 68 °F), Saccharomyces telluris at 5 to 35 °C
(41 to 95 °F), and Candida slooffi at 28 to 45 °C (82 to 113 °F).[24] The cells can survive freezing
under certain conditions, with viability decreasing over time.

Classification and Identification of yeast:

The principal bases for the identification and classification of genera yeast are as
follows:

1) Whether ascospores are formed.

2) If they are spore-forming:

a) The method of production of ascospores:

 1.Produced without conjugation of yeast cells (perthenogenetically). Spore
formation may be followed by
 Conjugation of ascospores or
 Conjugation of small daughter cells.
2.Produced after isogenic conjugation (conjugating cells appear similar)
3.Produced by heterogenic conjugation (conjugating cells differ in appearance).

b) Appearance of ascospores: shape, size and color. Most spores are spheroidal or
ovoid, but some have odd shapes, e.g.; most species of Hansenula, which look
like derby hats.

c) The usual number of ascospores per ascus :one, two, four or eight.

3) Appearance of vegetative cells: shape, size, color and inclusions .

4) Method of asexual reproduction:-
i)Budding
ii)Fission
iii)Combined budding and fission
iv)Arthrospore(oidia)
5) Production of a mycelium, pseudo mycelium or no mycelium.
6) Growth as a over surface of a liquid (film yeasts) or growth throughout medium.
7) Colour of microscopic growth.
8) Physiological characteristics (used primarily to differentiate species or strains within a
species):
 Nitrogen and carbon sources.
 Vitamins requirements.
 Oxidative or fermentative:
Film yeasts are oxidative; other yeasts maybe fermentative or fermentative
&oxidative.
 lipolysis, urease activity, acid production, or formation of starch like
compounds.
 Factors of Food Spoilage
Food by its very nature is expected to be nutritious: therefore, food is a rich habitat for
Microorganisms, in contrast with the great natural systems, soil, water and plants. By
suitable factors the food is spoiled by these microorganism.

There are eight principal factors:

(l) water activity;

(2) hydrogen ion concentration;
(3) temperature–of both processing and storage;
(4) gas tension, specifically of oxygen and carbon dioxide;
(5) consistency;
(6) nutrient status;
(7) specific solute effects; and
(8) preservatives.

Each will be discussed in turn below:

1)Water activity:

Water availability in foods is most readily measured as water activity. Water

activity is defined as a ratio:

Aw=p/po

Where p is the partial pressure of water vapor in the test material and p o is the
saturation vapor pressure of pure water under the same conditions. And Aw is water
activity. Water activity is numerically equal to equilibrium relative humidity(ERH)
expressed as a decimal. If a sample of food is held at constant temperature in a sealed
enclosure until the water in the sample equilibrates with the water vapor in the
enclosed airspace (Fig. a), then

Aw (food)= ERH(air)/100
 Conversely, if the ERH of the air is controlled in a suitable way, as by a
saturated salt solution, at equilibrium the Aw of the food will be numerically equal to the
generated ERH (Fig. b). In this way, Aw can be experimentally controlled, and the relation
of Aw to moisture (the sorption isotherm) can be studied.

Fig; the concept of water activity (Aw) (a)the relationship between Aw and equilibrium relative humidity (ERH);(b)
one method of controlling Aw by means of a saturated salt solution, which generates a specific ERH at a specific
constant temperature.

The water activity (aw) of a food is the ratio between the vapor pressure of the
food itself, when in a completely undisturbed balance with the surrounding air media,
and the vapor pressure of distilled water under identical conditions. A water activity of
0.80 means the vapor pressure is 80 percent of that of pure water. The water activity
increases with temperature. The moisture condition of a product can be measured as
the equilibrium relative humidity (ERH) expressed in percentage or as the water activity
expressed as a decimal.

Most foods have a water activity above 0.95 and that will provide sufficient
moisture to support the growth of bacteria, yeasts, and mold. The amount of available
moisture can be reduced to a point that will inhibit the growth of microorganisms.

Effect of Aw on Spoilage of Foods

Aw Spoilage microorganism Food

0.90-1.00 Bacteria Cottage Cheese, meat
0.85-9.0 Bacteria, Molds, Yeasts Margarine, condensed
milk, whipped butter
0.80-0.85 Yeasts Fruit syrups
0.75-0.80 Xerophilic molds, Molds, Dried figs, jams
Yeasts
0.70-0.75 Yeasts Confections
0.65-0.70 Osmophilic Yeasts Molasses
0.60-0.65 Xerophilic molds, Dried fruit
 osmophilic yeasts

2)Hydrogen Ion Concentration:

At high water activities, fungi compete with bacteria as food spoilers. Here pH
plays the decisive role. Bacteria flourish near neutral pH and fungi cannot compete
unless some other factor, such as low water activity or a preservative, renders the
environment hostile to the bacteria. As pH is reduced below about 5, growth of bacteria
becomes progressively less likely. Most fungi are little affected by pH over abroad range,
commonly 3–8. Some conidial fungi are capable of growth down to pH 2, and yeasts
down to pH 1.5.

3)Temperature:

The influence of temperature in food preservation and spoilage has two separate
facets: temperatures during processing and those existing during storage. As noted
above, heat-resistant fungal spores may survive pasteurizing processes given to acid
foods.
Apart from a few important species, little information exists on the heat resistance of
fungi. Ascospores of filamentous fungi are more heat resistant than conidia. The heat
resistance of B. fulva ascospores varies markedly with isolate and heating conditions
(Beuchat and Rice, 1979): a D value between 1 and 12 min at 908 oC (Bayne and
Michener, 1979) and a z value of 6–7oC (Kingetal., 1969) are practical working figures.
Ascospores of Neosartorya fischeri have a similar heat resistance to those of
Byssochlamys fulva, but have been reported less frequently as a cause of food spoilage.
Food frozen to –108oC or below appears to be microbiologically stable,
Despite some reports of fungal growth at lower temperatures. The lowest temperatures
for fungal growth are in the range–7to80oC, for species of Fusarium, Cladosporium,
Penicillium and Thamnidium (Pitt and Hocking, 1997). Thermophilic fungi, i.e. those
which grow only at high temperatures, are rarely of significance in food spoilage. If
overheating of commodities occurs, however, in situations such as damp grain,
thermophiles can be a very serious problem.
Fig. Aschematic diagram showing the combined influence of water activity and pH on
microbial growth

4)Gas Tension:

Food spoilage molds, like almost all other filamentous fungi, have an absolute
requirement for oxygen. However, many species appear to be efficient oxygen
scavengers, so that the total amount of oxygen available, rather than the oxygen
tension, determines growth. The concentration of oxygen dissolved in the substrate has
a much greater influence on fungal growth than atmospheric oxygen tension (Miller and
Golding, 1949). For example, Penicillium expansum grows virtually normally in 2.1%
oxygen over its entire temperature range (Golding, 1945), and many other common
food spoilage fungi are inhibited only slightly when grown in nitrogen atmospheres
containing approximately 1.0% oxygen (Hocking,1990). Paecilomyces
Variotii produced normal colonies at 2580oC under 650mm of vacuum. Most food
spoilage molds appear to be sensitive to high levels of carbon dioxide, although there
are notable exceptions. When maintained in an atmosphere of 80% carbon dioxide and
4.2% oxygen, Penicillium roqueforti still grow at 30% of the rate in air (Golding,1945),
provided that the temperature was above 208oC. In 40% CO2 and 1% O2, P. roqueforti
grew at almost 90% of the rate in air.

5)Consistency:

Consistency, like gas tension, exerts considerable influence over the kind of
spoilage to which a food is susceptible. Generally speaking, yeasts cause more obvious
spoilage in liquid products, because single celled microorganisms are able to disperse
more readily in liquids. Moreover, a liquid substrate is more likely to give rise to
anaerobic conditions and fermentation is more readily seen in liquids. In contrast,
filamentous fungi are assisted by a firm substrate, and ready access to oxygen. The
foregoing is not intended to suggest that yeasts cannot spoil solid products nor molds
liquids: merely that all other factors being equal, fermentative yeasts have a competitive
advantage in liquids and cause more obvious spoilage under these conditions.

6)Nutrient Status:

The nutrient status of most foods is adequate for the growth of any spoilage
microorganism. Generally speaking, however, it appears that fungal metabolism is best
suited to substrates high in carbohydrates, whereas bacteria are more likely to spoil
proteinaceous foods. Lactobacilli are an exception. Most common mold species appear
to be able to assimilate any food-derived carbon source with the exception of
hydrocarbons and highly condensed polymers such as cellulose and lignin. Most molds
are equally indifferent to nitrogen source, using nitrate, ammonium ions or organic
nitrogen sources with equal ease. Some species achieve only limited growth if amino
acids or proteins must provide both carbon and nitrogen. A few isolates classified in
Penicillium subgen. Biverticillium are unable to utilize nitrate (Pitt, 1979b).

7)Specific Solute Effects:

As stated earlier, microbial growth under conditions of reduced water

availability is most satisfactorily described in terms of Aw. However the particular solutes
present in foods can exert additional effects on the growth of fungi. Scott (1957)
reported that Eurotium (Aspergillus) amstelodami grew 50% faster at its optimal Aw
(0.96) when Aw was controlled by glucose rather than magnesium chloride, sodium
chloride or glycerol. In contrast Pittand Hocking (1977) and Hocking and Pitt (1979)
showed that germination and growth of several species of Aspergillus and Penicillium
was little affected when medium Aw was controlled with glucose–fructose, glycerol or
sodium chloride.

8) Preservatives:

Obviously, preservatives for use in foods must be safe for human

consumption. Under this constraint, food technologists in most countries are limited to
the use of weak acid preservative: benzoic, sorbic, nitrous, sulphurous, acetic and
propionic acids –or, less commonly, their esters. The use of chemical preservatives in
foods is limited by law in most countries to relatively low levels and to specific foods. A
few fungal species possess mechanisms of resistance to weak acid preservatives, the
most notable being Zygosaccharomyces bailii. This yeast is capable of growth and
fermentation in fruit-based cordials of pH 2.9–3, of 458C Brix and containing 800mg/L of
benzoic acid (Pitt and Hocking, 1997). They east-like fungus Moniliella acetoabutans can
grow in the presence of 4% acetic acid and survive in 10% (Pitt and Hocking, 1997).