CHAPTER 12 The Eukaryotes: Fungi, Algae, Protozoa, and Helminths 355

Sporangiospore
10 Spores are released
from sporangium.

2 Sporangium bursts 3 Spore germinates

to release spores. to produce hyphae. 11 Spore germinates
to produce hyphae. 9 Zygote produces
a sporangium.

Asexual
1 Aerial hypha reproduction 4 Vegetative mycelium grows.
produces a Sexual
sporangium. 8 Karyogamy
Sporangium reproduction
and meiosis.
Sporangiophore

+ –

5 Gametes form 7 Zygospore forms.

at tip of hypha.

6 Plasmogamy.
Sporangium

Sporangiospores
Zygosporangium containing
zygospore

LM LM
30 mm 40 mm

Figure 12.7 The life cycle of Rhizopus, a zygomycete. This fungus will reproduce
asexually most of the time. Two opposite mating strains (designated + and -) are necessary for
sexual reproduction.

Q What is an opportunistic mycosis?

● Fungi can grow on substances with a very low moisture Medically Important Fungi
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content, generally too low to support the growth of bacteria.
● Fungi require somewhat less nitrogen than bacteria for an
equivalent amount of growth.
● Fungi are often capable of metabolizing complex
carbohydrates, such as lignin (a component of wood), that
most bacteria can’t use for nutrients.
These characteristics enable fungi to grow on such unlikely
substrates as bathroom walls, shoe leather, and discarded
newspapers.
This section provides an overview of medically important
phyla of fungi. The actual diseases they cause will be studied in
Chapters 21 through 26. Note that only a relatively small num-
ber of fungi cause disease and some fungi protect us against
infection (see Exploring the Microbiome, page 361).
The genera named in the following phyla include many that are
readily found as contaminants in foods and in laboratory bacte-
rial cultures. Although these genera are not all of primary medical
importance, they are typical examples of their respective groups.

CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING

✓ 12-1 Assume you isolated a single-celled organism that has
a cell wall. How would you determine that it is a fungus and
not a bacterium?
✓ 12-2 Contrast the mechanism of sexual and asexual spore
formation.
Zygomycota
The Zygomycota, or conjugation fungi, are saprophytic molds
that have coenocytic hyphae. An example is Rhizopus stolonifer,
the common black bread mold. The asexual spores of Rhizopus
are sporangiospores (Figure 12.7). The dark sporangiospores
inside the sporangium give Rhizopus its descriptive common

Tortora, G., Funke, B., Case, C., Weber, D., & Bair, W. I. (2020). Microbiology : An introduction, ebook, global edition. Pearson Education, Limited.
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 356 PART TWO A Survey of the Microbial World

1 Spores are ingested

or inhaled.

2 Spore injects tube

6 New spores into host cell.
are released.
Mature
spores Vacuole

Host cell

Asexual
reproduction

3 Cytoplasm and
TEM
nucleus enter.
1.5 mm

5 Cytoplasm
breaks up around
nuclei to form
spores.
4 Cytoplasm grows, and
nuclei reproduce.

Figure 12.8 The life cycle of Encephalitozoon, a microsporidian. Microsporidiosis is

an emerging opportunistic infection in immunocompromised patients and the elderly.
E. intestinalis causes diarrhea. Sexual reproduction has not been observed.

Q Why were microsporidia so difficult to classify?

name. When the sporangium breaks open, the sporangiospores (inflammation of the conjunctiva near the cornea), most
are dispersed. If they fall on a suitable medium, they will ger- notably in AIDS patients.
minate into a new mold thallus.
The sexual spores are zygospores. A zygospore is a large Ascomycota
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spore enclosed in a thick wall (Figure 12.7, step 7). This type of
spore forms when the nuclei of two cells that are morphologi-
cally similar to each other fuse.
Microsporidia
Microsporidia are unusual eukaryotes because they lack
mitochondria. Microsporidia don’t have microtubules (see
Chapter 4, page 124), and they’re obligate intracellular para-
sites. In 1857, when they were discovered, microsporidians
were classified as fungi. They were reclassified as protists
in 1983 because they lack mitochondria. Recent genome
sequencing, however, reveals that the microsporidians are
fungi. Sexual reproduction has not been observed but prob-
ably occurs within the host (Figure 12.8). Microsporidia have
been reported to be the cause of a number of human dis-
eases, including chronic diarrhea and keratoconjunctivitis
The Ascomycota, or sac fungi, include molds with septate
hyphae and some yeasts. Their asexual spores are usually
conidia produced in long chains from the conidiophore. The
term conidia means dust, and these spores freely detach from
the chain at the slightest disturbance and float in the air
like dust.
An ascospore forms when the nuclei of two cells that can
be either morphologically similar or dissimilar fuse. These
spores are produced in a saclike structure called an ascus
(Figure 12.9, lower right). The members of this phylum are
called sac fungi because of the ascus.
Basidiomycota
The Basidiomycota, or club fungi, also possess septate hyphae.
This phylum includes fungi that produce mushrooms. Basid-
iospores are formed externally on a base pedestal called a

Tortora, G., Funke, B., Case, C., Weber, D., & Bair, W. I. (2020). Microbiology : An introduction, ebook, global edition. Pearson Education, Limited.
Created from ouhk-ebooks on 2021-11-08 02:25:51.