61

Introduction to fungi and

terminology

Suzan Matar
Learning objectives
Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes
Basic Terminology
Basic Terminology
Basic Terminology
Dimorphic fungi
spores

Septated hyphae
Black moulds
- melanin
 Types of Vegetative Growth

• Microscopic fungi are classified by the

type of vegetative growth as either yeasts
or molds.
Yeasts
* They are unicellular and
reproduce by budding (e.g.,
Candida albicans) or fission
(e.g., Schizosaccharomyces
pombe).

* Yeasts causing disease in

humans produce buds termed
blastoconidia.

* An exception is Trichosporon,
which, in addition to budding,
produces hyphae that
fragment into arthroconidia.
 Pseudohyphae

Pseudohyphae are seen in a

wide variety of yeasts.
Pseudohyphae are distinct
from yeast forms and true
hyphae.

When blastoconidia remain

attached in a chain of round
to elongate cells, often
resembling a string of pearls,
the entire structure is called
pseudohyphae (singular:
pseudohypha).
Budding in Pseudopodia
Molds
The molds are formed by
filamentous, cylindrical, often
branching cells called hyphae
(singular: hypha)

A mass of hyphae is termed a

mycelium .

The term thallus is sometimes

used to refer to the entire body of
a fungus.
Differences between fungal and
human cells
Differences between fungal and
human cells
The Fungal Cell Wall and Cell Membrane
Fungal Nutrition
Yeast Growth
Fission
The main difference between hyphae
and pseudohyphae is that
the hyphae are the elongated, thread-
like filaments whereas
the pseudohyphae are the newly-
divided cells through budding.
Furthermore, the hyphae occur in
filamentous fungi while
the pseudohyphae occur in the
unicellular fungi such as yeast.
Mould growth
Spore production

Asexually
Aleuriospores
Arthrospore
Chlamydospore
Enteroblastic
Enteroblastic
Fungal Reproduction
 Fungal reproduction
• After a period of growth, fungi will undergo reproduction
to produce spores
Depending on the fungal
species and the circumstances
Asexually Sexually
Conidiospores adverse environmental conditions

Three stages.
- Plasmogamy ( dikaryotic stage)
- Karyogamy (“nuclear
marriage”) diploid zygote
nucleus.
- Meiosis takes place in the
gametangia organs, in which
gametes of different mating types
are generated.
When both mating types are present in
the same mycelium, it is called
homothallic, or self-fertile.
Heterothallic mycelia require two
different, but compatible, mycelia to
reproduce sexually.
Types of fungal reproduction: Fungi may utilize both asexual
and sexual stages of reproduction; sexual reproduction often
occurs in response to adverse environmental conditions.
Differences between yeast and moulds
Examples of microscopic and colonial appearance of
various yeast
Examples of microscopic and colonial appearance
of various moulds
Trichophyton
 pink
purple
Fusarium oxysporum - Microconidia and a few Macroconidia (X100 LPCB: Nikon)
Fungal dimorphism
mnemonics
spherule
Spherule
 Dimorphism
Dimorphism (definition: two forms) is morphogenesis that
allows growth to occur in either the mycelial or yeast forms,
(mycelium → yeast, or yeast → mycelium conversion);

For example, Histoplasma capsulatum is a dimorphic fungus

Fungi causing primary systemic infections are typically
filamentous soil-dwelling molds.