Fungi

•Fungi are non-photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms.

•Fungi are diverse and widespread.

•They are essential for the well-being of most terrestrial ecosystems

because they break down organic material and recycle vital
nutrients.

•Fungi comprise the molds and yeasts.

•Molds are filamentous and multicellular.

•Yeasts are usually unicellular.

•They reproduce both sexually and asexually.

Yeasts
General Structural Characteristics
Yeast cells are generally larger that
Yeast identification, like bacterial identification, involves biochemical bacteria.
tests.
A yeast cell is distinguished by its round to
However, multicellular fungi are identified on the basis of physical
oval shape and by its mode of asexual
appearance, including colony characteristics and reproductive spores.
reproduction.
Cells of the microscopic fungi exist in two basic morphological types:
It grows swellings on its surface called
yeasts and hyphae. buds.

Some species form a pseudohypha, a chain

of yeasts formed when buds remain
attached in a row
 Molds and Fleshy Fungi- The thallus (body) of a mold or fleshy fungus consists
of long filaments of cells joined together; these filaments are called hyphae
(singular: hypha).

Hyphae can grow to immense proportions. The hyphae of a single fungus in

Oregon extend across 3.5 miles. Cell wall
Nuclei Cell wall

In most molds, the hyphae contain cross-walls called Pore

septa (singular: septum), which divide them in to
distinct, uninucleate (one-nucleus) cell-like units. Septum Nuclei
These hyphae are called septate Hyphae.

In a few classes of fungi , the hyphae contain no septa Septate hypha Coenocytic hypha
and appear as long, continuous cells with many nuclei.

These are called coenocytic hyphae

Even in fungi with septate hyphae, there are usually openings in the
septa that make the cytoplasm of adjacent "cells" continuous; these Hyphae can also be classified according to their particular
fungi are actually coenocytic organisms, too. function.

Vegetative hypha - The portion of a hypha that obtains nutrients is

Hyphae grow by elongating at the tips. Each part of a hypha is
called the vegetative hypha. They are responsible for the visible
capable of growth, and when a fragment breaks off, it can
mass of growth that appears on the surface of a substrate and
elongate to form a new hypha. In the laboratory, fungi are
penetrates it to digest and absorb nutrients.
usually grown from fragments obtained from a fungal thallus.
Reproductive or aerial hypha- The portion concerned with
reproduction is the reproductive or aerial hypha, so named
because it projects above the surface of the medium on which the
fungus is growing. Aerial hyphae often bear reproductive spores.
When environmental conditions are suitable, the hyphae grow to
form a visible filamentous mass called a mycelium.
 Reproductive structure

Hyphae
•Some fungal cells exist only in a yeast form;
others occur primarily as hyphae; and a few,
called dimorphic, can take either form, depending
upon growth conditions, especially changing
Spore-producing temperature.
structures

20 µm •With some notable exceptions, fungi have cell

walls, which are composed mainly of chitin.

Mycelium
Fungal Nutrition
(i) All fungi are heterotrophic, and obtain their food by absorption.
(ii) They acquire nutrients from a wide variety of organic materials
called substrates.
(iii) Most fungi are saprophytes or saprobes, meaning that they
obtain these substrates from the remnants of dead plants and
animals in soil or aquatic habitats.
(iv) Fungi can also be parasites on the bodies of living animals or
plants, although very few fungi absolutely require a living host.
Cultivation of Fungi
• Molds and yeasts can be studied by the same cultural methods
used for bacteria.
• Most of them grow aerobically at a temperature range of 20ºC
-30ºC.
• Most of them grow more slowly than bacteria.
• Acidic (pH 5.6) media that incorporate relatively high
concentration of sugar are tolerant to molds but inhibitory to
many bacteria.
• Fungi can grow on substances with a very low moisture
content, generally too low to support the growth of bacteria.
(v) In general, the fungus penetrates the substrate and secretes
enzymes that reduce it to small molecules that can be
absorbed by the cells.
(vi) Fungi have enzymes for digesting an incredible array of
substances, including feathers, hair, cellulose, petroleum
products, wood, rubber. It has been said that every
naturally occurring organic material on the earth can be
attacked by some type of fungus.
(vii) Fungi are often found in nutritionally poor or adverse
environments.
Common Fungal Culture Media
Brain-heart infusion (BHI) agar: It is a non-selective fungal
culture medium that permits the growth of virtually all clinically
relevant fungi. It is used for the primary recovery of saprophytic and
dimorphic fungi.
Czapek’s agar: It is used for the subculture of Aspergillus species
for their differential diagnosis.
Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA): It is a relatively rich medium for
growing a wide range of fungi.
Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SDA): It is used for the isolation,
cultivation, and maintenance of non-pathogenic and pathogenic
species of fungi and yeasts.
 Fungal Reproduction

Fungi can reproduce both asexually and sexually.

Asexual reproduction may be accomplished by:

• Fission of somatic cells: yielding to similar daughter cells

• Budding of somatic cells or spores, each bud a small

outgrowth of the parent cell developing into a new
individual.

• Segmentation or disjointing hypal cell, each fragment

becoming a new organism

A petri dish contains colonies of fungi • Spore formation

Penicillium notatum
grown from a sample collected aboard the
on Sabouraud agar
International Space Station

Fungi propagate themselves by producing vast numbers of

•Yeast reproduce asexually in a process called budding. spores, either sexually or asexually.

•During budding, one yeast cell simply makes a copy of its Asexual Spore Formation
DNA and then divides much like basic cell division. On the basis of the nature of the reproductive hypha and the
manner in which the spores originate, there are two subtypes of
asexual spore :

Sporangiospores - are formed by successive cleavages within

a sac like head called a sporangium, which is attached to a
stalk, the sporangiophore. These spores are initially enclosed
but are released when the sporangium ruptures.

Conidiospores or conidia are free spores not enclosed by a

spore-bearing sac They develop either by the pinching off of
the tip of a special fertile hypha or by the segmentation of a
pre-existing vegetative hypha.
Representative asexual spores

The three most common sexual spores:

(1) Zygospores- Zygospores are thick walled diploid spores

formed when hyphae of two opposite strains (called the plus and
minus strains) fuse. Produced in the class Zygomycete (Rhizopus).

(2) Ascospores- Ascospores are haploid spores created inside a

special fungal sac, or ascus (plural asci). Produced in the class
Ascomycetes

(3) Basidiospores- Basidiospores are haploid sexual spores formed

on the outside of a club-shaped cell called a basidium (plural
basidia). Produced in the class Basidiomycetes.
 Fungi have a powerful impact on ecosystems and human
welfare.

Decomposers
• Fungi are efficient decomposers.
• They perform essential recycling of chemical elements
between the living and nonliving world.

Symbionts
• Fungi form symbiotic relationships with plants, algae,
and animals.
• All of these relationships have profound ecological
effects.

Fungi as infectious agents
•About 30% of known fungal species are
parasites, mostly on or in plants
•Animals are much less susceptible to parasitic
fungi than are plants
• Mycosis (or mycoses) – disease process caused by fungi
Infectious fungi can be grouped based on the virulence of
the organism and the level of involvement of the disease:
– Systemic
– Subcutaneous
– Cutaneous
– Superficial
Fungal pathogens can be classified in 2 categories:

• Primary (true) pathogens : have virulence factors that

•The general term for a fungal infection in allow them to invade and grow in a healthy host
animals is mycosis
• Opportunistic pathogens : weak virulence; causes disease
in only weakened or compromised hosts

Pathogenesis of Fungi
• Enter body through respiratory, mucous, and cutaneous
routes
• In general, primary pathogens have a respiratory portal of
entry
• Spores, hyphal elements, and yeast can all be infectious;
more often spores due to their durability
• Mycoses are not usually communicable (except
dermatophytes and Candida species)
Industrial Enzymes
Trichoderma is used commercially to produce the
enzyme cellulase, which is used to remove plant cell
wall to produce a clear fruit juice.
Amylase, Catalase, Cellulase, Dextranase, ß-
Glucanase, Glucoamylase, Glucose oxidase,
Hemicellulase, Laccase, Lipase, Pectinase, Protease,
Rennet, Tannase and Xylanase.
Practical Uses of Fungi
• Humans eat many fungi and use others to make cheeses,
alcoholic beverages, and bread
• Useful Chemicals
Many important industrial chemicals are now produced
from fungi using fermentation technology. Commercial
production of citric acid is produced using Aspergillus
niger.
Saccharomyces cerevisiae, strains are used in fermentation
of beer and wine and in baking.
Fungi are well known as a source of Alkaloids, Ethanol,
Immunomodulators, Organic acids, Polysaccharides and
Vitamins.
Anticancer Drug
Anticancer drug “Taxol” produces by the fungus Taxomyces.
Antibiotics Production
Antibiotics such as Penicillins (from Penicillium
chrosogenum) and Cephalosporins (from Cephalosporium
acremonium) are produced from fungi.
Bioremediation
Fungi can be used in new production processes that are
themselves less polluting than traditional chemical
processes and some species of white rot fungi are already
being employed to degrade toxic wastes.
Biobleaching/Biopulping
Recent studies have suggested that lignin-degrading or white-rot
fungi could replace some of the chemical steps used in paper
making. Staphylococcus Penicillium
Zone of
Biocontrol Agent inhibited
Fungi are used as biological controls of pests. The use of fungi as growth
biocontrol agents to kill insects (mycoinsecticides) and weeds
(mycoherbicides) has the potential to replace many of the toxic
chemicals currently in use.

Genetic research on fungi is leading to applications in

biotechnology.

Antibiotics produced by fungi treat bacterial infections.