FUNGI

Fungi

6.1 General characteristics

6.2 Chytridiomycota 6.7 Symbionts

6.3 Glomeromycota 6.4.1 Lichen
6.4 Basidiomycota 6.4.2 Mycorrhizae
6.5 Zygomycota
6.6 Ascomycota
Figure 31.1
 Characteristics of fungi
 Fungi are previously classified as plants.
 Molecular studies suggest that fungi are
more similar to animals than to plants.
 However, due to so many differences
between them and plants, and even with
animals and protists, they are assigned to
a different kingdom.
Characteristics of fungi
 Fungi are also eukaryotes.
 Fungi are heterotrophs.
 Their difference in method of obtaining
food compared to human and other
animals is that they do not ingest their
food but instead they secrete powerful
digestive enzymes (exoenzymes) on their
food source and absorb the predigested
food.
Fungi life style (Ways of
obtaining food)
Saprophytes - decomposers
Parasites
Symbionts - mutualists
Saprophytes
 Most fungi are saprophytes, where they
obtain food from dead organisms and
cause them to decompose.
 Together along with bacteria, they
recycle carbon, nitrogen and other
important mineral elements
Parasites
 Some others are parasites that caused
disease on animals and plants.
 They used organic material from living
organisms, causing harm to them
Symbionts
 There are also fungi that are symbionts
with other kingdom’s members.
 These type of fungi have mutually
beneficial relationship with other living
organisms
Characteristics of fungi
 Fungi have cell walls with different
composition from cell walls of other
organisms.
 They have cell walls made of chitin,
(nitrogen containing polysaccharide) that
is also a component of the external
skeleton of insects and other arthropods.
Fungi body structure
 Two different types;
 Yeasts – unicellular fungi (round and oval)
in shape.
 Reproduction are commonly by budding.
General Terminology
 mycelium - the entire body of the fungus
 hyphae - threadlike structures of which the
mycelium is composed
 thallus - another term for the mycelium
 spore - haploid propagule produced via meiosis
 sporangium - structure within which spores are
produced (either sexually or asexually, depending
on life cycle stage)
Fungi body structure
 Molds - have vegetative
nonreproductive) body plan called
hyphae. Hyphae consist of long,
branched or threadlike filaments.
 Hyphae form a tangled mass called
mycelium that greatly increased the
absorptive surface area of fungi
Yeast Mold
Figure 31.2

Reproductive structure

Hyphae

Spore-producing
structures

60 m

Mycelium
Fungi hyphae type
 Most fungi have hyphae divided into cells
by septa, with pores allowing cell-to-cell
movement of organelles.
 Septate hyphae – divided by septa wall
causing them to become individual cell
with one nuclei or more.
 Coenocytic fungi lack septa and have a
continuous cytoplasmic mass with
hundreds or thousands of nuclei
Figure 31.3

Cell wall
Nuclei Cell wall

Pore
Septum Nuclei

(a) Septate hypha (b) Coenocytic hypha

Specialized Hyphae in
Mycorrhizal Fungi

 Some unique fungi have specialized

hyphae called haustoria that allow
them to penetrate the tissues of their
host.
Figure 31.4
Hyphae 25 m
Nematode

(a) Hyphae adapted for trapping and killing prey

Fungal hypha Plant

cell
wall

Plant cell
Plant cell
plasma
Haustorium membrane
(b) Haustoria
Specialized Hyphae in Mycorrhizal Fungi
 Mycorrhizae are mutually beneficial relationships
between fungi and plant roots
 Ectomycorrhizal fungi form sheaths of hyphae over
a root and also grow into the extracellular spaces
of the root cortex
 Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi extend hyphae
through the cell walls of root cells and into tubes
formed by invagination of the root cell membrane
Fungi produce spores through
sexual or asexual life cycles
 Fungi propagate themselves by producing
vast numbers of spores, either sexually or
asexually
 Fungi reproduce by spores that are nonmotile
and can be dispersed by wind, water or
animals.
 Fungi can produce spores from different types
of life cycles
Figure 31.5-3

Key

Haploid (n) Heterokaryotic

PLASMOGAMY
Heterokaryotic stage

Diploid (2n)

Spore-producing
structures KARYOGAMY

Spores SEXUAL
REPRODUCTION
ASEXUAL Mycelium Zygote
REPRODUCTION

GERMINATION MEIOSIS
GERMINATION

Spores
Sexual Reproduction
 Sexual spores are usually produced by
specialized hyphae or fruiting / reproductive
bodies.
 Fungal nuclei are normally haploid, with the
exception of transient diploid stages formed
during the sexual life cycles
 Sexual reproduction requires the fusion of
hyphae from different mating types
 Fungi use sexual signaling molecules called
pheromones to communicate their mating type
 Plasmogamy is the fusion of cytoplasm from two
parent mycelia
 In most fungi, the haploid nuclei from each
parent do not fuse right away; they coexist in
the mycelium, called a heterokaryon
 In some fungi, the haploid nuclei pair off two to
a cell; such a mycelium is said to be dikaryotic
(n+n)
 Hours, days, or even centuries may pass before
the occurrence of karyogamy, - the fusion of
nucleus.
 During karyogamy, the haploid nuclei fuse,
producing diploid cells
 The diploid phase is short-lived and undergoes
meiosis, producing haploid spores
 The paired processes of karyogamy and meiosis
produce genetic variation
Asexual Reproduction
 In addition to sexual reproduction, many fungi
can reproduce asexually.
 Asexual spores are called conidia, formed in
specialized hyphae called conidiophores.
 Molds produce haploid spores by mitosis and
form visible mycelia.
 Asexual reproduction, via conidia formation, does
not involve genetic recombination between two
sexual types unlike sexual reproduction.
Figure 31.6

1.5 m
 Other fungi that can reproduce asexually are
yeasts, which are single cells
 Instead of producing spores, yeasts reproduce
asexually by simple cell division and the pinching
of “bud cells” from a parent cell
 Some fungi can grow as yeasts and as
filamentous mycelia
Figure 31.7

10 m

Parent
cell

Bud
Sexual reproduction Asexual reproduction
 Many molds and yeasts have no known sexual
stage
 Mycologists have traditionally called these
deuteromycetes, or imperfect fungi
 The so called deuteromycete fungi are
reclassified once their sexual stage is discovered
Origin of fungi
 Based on data from paleontogy and
molecular systematics suggested that
fungi might evolved from flagellated
unicellular protistan ancestor
 Although majority of fungi lack flagella,
the earliest lineage of fungi – chytrids
have flagella
Classification of fungi
 Phylum Chytridiomycota
 Chytrid
 Phylum Zygomycota
 Rhizopus sp,
 Mucor sp
 Phylum Glomeromycota
 Endomycorrhizaeytrids
 Phylum Ascomycota
 Aspergillus sp,
 Penicillium sp
 Phylum Basidiomycota
 Amanita sp.
Figure 31.11 Hyphae 25 m
Chytrids (1,000 species)

Zygomycetes (1,000 species)

Fungal hypha 25 m

Glomeromycetes (160 species)

Ascomycetes (65,000 species)

Basidiomycetes (30,000 species)

 Phylum Chytridiomycota
 Most of them are saprobic decomposers while
others are parasites.
 Ubiquitous (seem in all place) in lakes and soil.
 Alike other fungi, their cell wall are made of
chitin
 The aspect that differs them from fungi is that
they produced flagellated spores known as
zoospores.
 Thought to be the earliest in fungal evolution
(most primitive)
Chytrids
 The cells have rootlike structure called
rhizoids that is used to absorb nutrients
from host cells.
 A parasitic chytrid is responsible for
declining frog populations.
Phylum Zygomycota
 Most zygomycetes are decomposers in soil or
on decaying plant or animal matter.
 Others are parasites on insects or symbionts
with plant roots.
 Their hyphae are coenocytic that lack
regularly spaced septa.
Zygomycetes asexual
reproduction
 Once a spore falls on bread, it germinates
and forms a mycelium that penetrates the
bread and absorbs nutrients.
 Certain hyphae grow upwards and
develop asexual spores’ sacs called
sporangia. These sporangia rupture and
releases black asexual spores.
Zygomycetes sexual reproduction
 Sexual reproduction occurs when the hyphae
of two different mating types (+) and (-) grow
in close proximity with each other; hormones
(pheromones) will be produced at the tip of
each hyphae causing the formation of
gametangia, structures where gametes form.
 The gametangia will fuse in the plasmogamy
process (fusion of cytoplasm), forming a
heterokaryotic young zygosporangium.
Zygomycetes sexual reproduction

 The zygosporangium will undergo

karyogamy (nuclei fusion)
 It develops thick and protective outer
covering.
 The zygosporangium is dormant, and
when it germinates, it produces
sporangium that bears sexual spores.
 The spores that germinate will produce
haploid hyphae.
Figure 31.13

PLASMOGAMY

Mating Gametangia with

type (−) Mating haploid nuclei
type (+)
Rhizopus 100 m
growing Young
on bread zygosporangium
(heterokaryotic)
SEXUAL
REPRODUCTION

Dispersal and Zygosporangium

germination KARYOGAMY
Sporangia Flagellum

Diploid
Sporangium nuclei
ASEXUAL
REPRODUCTION MEIOSIS
Key
Dispersal and
germination Haploid (n)
Heterokaryotic (n + n)
Mycelium
50 m Diploid (2n)
Zygomycetes - Pilobolus
A zygomycete that decompose animal
dung
 The spore-bearing structure bends towards
light where grasses grow (cows graze)
 Spores can be shot up to 2 m and
consumed by cows – facilitate dispersal
 Phylum Glomeromycota
 Formerly thought to belong to the
Zygomycota phylum
 Only 160 sp identified
 An ecologically important group that form a
symbiotic relationship with plant roots
(endomycorrhizae)
 Form arbuscular mycorrhizae.
 The tips of the hyphae that push into plant
root cells branch into tiny treelike structures
known as arbuscules.
Phylum Ascomycota
 There are about 30,000 kinds of sac fungi
that inhabit marine, freshwater and
terrestrial habitats
 Their hyphae usually have septa, where
these cross walls have pores to allow
cytoplasm to flow from one compartment
to the other.
Phylum Ascomycota
 Ascomycetes are easily distinguishable
from other fungi by their sac-like asci
contained in spore producing organ
(fruiting bodies) called the ascocarp.
Figure 31.16

Morchella esculenta,
the tasty morel

Tuber melanosporum, a truffle

Ascomycetes asexual
reproduction
 In most ascomycetes, asexual
reproduction involves production of
spores called conidia. Conidia forms in
specialized hyphae known as
conidiospores.
Ascomycetes sexual
reproduction
 Some species of ascomycetes have
different mating strain (heterothallic) and
some have ability to self-mate
(homothallic).
 Two different mating type, anteridium (♂)
and ascogonium (♀) will undergo
plasmogamy resulting in dikaryotic
hyphae. This condition is described as (n +
n) because they are two separate
haploid nuclei.
Ascomycetes sexual
reproduction
 These intertwining hyphae will develop a
fruiting body called the ascocarp that
contains a lot of sac called ascus.
 Within the ascocarp upper region, the
dikaryotic ascus’s two nuclei will fuse
(karyogamy) and produce a diploid (2n)
nucleus. This structure is called a zygote.
Ascomycetes sexual
reproduction
 The zygote will undergo meiosis (I and II )
to form four haploid nuclei, followed by
one mitotic division on each of the four
nuclei resulting in the formation of eight
haploid nuclei known as the ascospore.
 The spores are released when the tip of
the ascus breaks open. Upon landing in a
suitable location, it germinates and form a
new mycelium.
Figure 31.17 Conidia;
mating type (−)

Key
Dispersal Haploid (n)
Germination Mating Dikaryotic (n + n)
ASEXUAL type (+)
Diploid (2n)
REPRODUCTION Hypha PLASMOGAMY

Ascus
(dikaryotic)
Conidiophore
Mycelia
Dikaryotic
hyphae
Mycelium
Germination SEXUAL
REPRODUCTION KARYOGAMY
Dispersal
Diploid nucleus
(zygote)
Asci Eight
Ascocarp ascospores

Four
haploid
nuclei MEIOSIS
Phylum Basidiomycota
 Have approximately 30,000 club fungi that
include mushrooms, shelf fungi, coral fungi,
puffballs and stinkhorns. They possess septate
hyphae.
 Some saprobic species are important
decomposers of litter found on or in the soil.
 Capable of degrading lignin, a complex
component of wood.
 Other species are symbionts with young roots
of trees.
Figure 31.18 Shelf fungi

Puffballs emitting
spores

Maiden veil fungus

(Dictyphora)
Phylum Basidiomycota
 Some fungal such as wheat rusts and corn
smuts often destroy entire crops of wheat,
corn and other valued crops. Some could
also produce toxins that can kill any
organisms that nibble them.
Figure 31.25

(b) Tar spot

fungus
on maple
leaves

(a) Corn smut on corn

(c) Ergots on rye

Phylum Basidiomycota
 Most basidiomycetes form mushrooms,
which are the reproductive or fruiting
bodies. These reproductive bodies are
short life, above ground structures with the
mycelium buried in the soil or decaying
wood.
 They are called club fungi because they
develop club shaped basidia called
basidium that exists inside the mushroom.
Basidiomycota sexual reproduction

A compatible mating mycelium strain will

result in a hyphal fusion (plasmogamy).
This ensures that each cell is binucleate (n
+ n) and the mycelium dikaryotic.
 The dikaryotic mycelium will give rise to
spore-bearing bodies (reproductive
bodies) which is the mushroom or
basidiocarp.
Basidiomycota sexual
reproduction
 Each mushroom can be divided into two
parts, which are the cap and the stalk.
The cap consists of fine tissue sheets (gills)
underneath it, which is a place where the
basidium is located.
 Within the gills, young basidium that
develops is still dikaryotic.
Basidiomycota sexual
reproduction
 The basidium haploid nuclei will undergo
karyogamy, producing diploid zygote.
 Meiosis will then takes place, forming four
haploid basidiospores that will move to
the outer edge or the tips of the basidium
and being held by structures called
sterigmata.
 Asexual reproduction is less common of
basidiomycetes.
Figure 31.19
Dikaryotic
Key PLASMOGAMY mycelium
Haploid (n)
Dikaryotic (n + n)
Mating
Diploid (2n) type (−)

Mating
type (+)
Haploid
mycelia Gills lined
with basidia
SEXUAL Basidiocarp
REPRODUCTION (n + n)

Dispersal
and
germination

Basidiospores
(n)

Basidium with Basidia

Basidium four basidiospores (n + n)
Basidium containing
four haploid nuclei
KARYOGAMY

MEIOSIS

Diploid
1 m Basidiospore nuclei
 Basidiomycetes can produce mushrooms
quickly
 Some species may produce “fairy rings”
Fairy rings
Symbionts – Lichen
 Lichen is a dual organism where it involves a
symbiotic association between a photo-
synthetic organism and a fungus.
 The photosynthetic component (photobiont)
might be a green algae (unicellular /
filamentous) or a cyanobacterium and the
fungus (mycobiont) is either ascomycete or
basidiomycetes in a few cases.
Lichen
 Their type of relationship is mutualism, a
symbiotic relationship that benefits both
parties.
 The photobiont carries photosynthesis to
produce organic carbon compounds for
both of them, some cyanobacteria fix
nitrogen.
 Mycobiont retains water (due to the
nature of the mycelium) and provides
minerals besides protecting the
photobiont from dessication through
pigments (intense sunlight).
 Lichen
 The mycobiont and the photobiont grow and
multiply together on sites that are usually sun
baked or frozen rocks, fence posts, graveyards
and even some plants.
 This is due to the fact that they are able to
tolerate extremes of temperature and moisture.
 Lichen are unable to excrete toxic materials,
therefore they make a good air pollution
indicator.
 The return of lichen indicates improvement in air
quality.
Figure 31.23

A foliose
(leaflike) lichen
Crustose
(encrusting) lichens

A fruticose (shrublike) lichen

Lichen reproduction
 Lichen reproduces asexually together via
fragmentation. Bits of lichen break off and
land on suitable places and grow as new
lichens. The fragments are called soredia
that contain cells of both partners.
 In separate reproduction, the algae
reproduce asexually by mitosis, while the
fungus produces ascospores /
basidiospores that will be dispersed by the
wind.
Figure 31.24

Ascocarp of fungus
Soredia
Fungal
hyphae Algal
layer
50 m

Fungal hyphae
Algal cell
 Lichens
A lichen is a symbiotic association between a
photosynthetic microorganism and a fungus in which
millions of photosynthetic cells are held in a mass of
fungal hyphae
 Four basic growth form:
1) Fruticose – free standing tubes
2) Crustose – crustlike
3) Foliose - leaflike
4) Squamulose - pebblelike
Fig. 31-23a

A fruticose (shrublike) lichen – free standing branching tubes

Fig. 31-23b

Crustose
(encrusting)
Lichens –
crustlike,
growing tight
against
substrate
Fig. 31-23c

A foliose (leaflike) lichen – with flat

sheets of tissue not tightly bound
 Thallusof Toninia sedifolia consists of scattered to
contiguous squamules, rounded or irregularly lobed,
growing on soil and in fissures of calcareous rocks
(batu kapur).
Mycorrhizae
 Mycorrhizae are mutualistic relationship
between fungi and the roots of plants
and it occurs in more than 90% of all plant
families.
 There are two types of mycorrhizae,
ectomycorrhizae and endomycorrhizae.
 Endomycorrhiza (common in more than 80 %
of terrestrial plant species)
 Ectomycorrhiza (specific to conifers and some
broadleaved woody species).
 Endomycorrhizal fungi develop mainly
microscopic spores in the soil whereas most of
ectomycorrhizal fungal symbionts develop
aboveground fruit bodies (mushrooms) in the
vicinity of trees.
Mycorrhizae
 The mycorrhizal fungus benefits the plant
by decomposing organic materials in the
soil and providing water and minerals
such as phosphorus to the plant. It also
increases the plant’s absorptive area and
allows movement of organic materials
from tree to tree.
 At the same time, the plant roots supply
sugars, amino acids and other organic
materials to the fungus.
Examples of the relationship
 One example of mychorrizal relationship is
in orchids. Orchids do not grow unless an
appropriate fungus lives with them.
 Pines die from malnutrition when
transplanted to nutrient rich grassland soils
that lacks the appropriate mycorrhizal
fungi.
Ecological importance of fungi
 Fungi are saprophytes that absorb nutrients
from organic wastes and organic materials.
 Capable of decomposing cellulose and
lignin from plant cell walls
 They release water and CO2 for trees and
also mineral components to be recycled.
 Without them, essential nutrients will remain in
animals carcasses, feces, leaves etc.
Ecological importance of fungi
 Can be seen in the case of the leaf-
cutting ants (Fungi-animal symbiosis)
 The leaves it carries to its nest are fed to a
special type of fungus that these ants
grow.
 As leaves reach the nest, they are cut up
and fed to the fungi
 The fungi break down the leaves into a
substance that the ants can digest
Figure 31.22
Economic importance of fungi
 Yeasts can produce ethyl alcohol and
carbon dioxide from sugars such as glucose in
the fermentation process. This results in
alcoholic beverages like wine and beer.
 During bread making process, carbon dioxide
produced by yeast becomes trapped in
dough as bubbles, causing the dough to rise
and give bread its light texture.
 Milk is fermented by mostly Penicillium species
to produce cheese
 Soysauce is produced by soybean
fermentation.
Economic importance of fungi
 Edible mushroom such as oyster and
shiitake are available in supermarkets.
 Poisonous mushroom from the genus
Amanita could kill you by a single
mushroom consumption. Certain species
causes intoxication and hallucinations.
Economic importance of fungi
 Fungi are also important medically.
 Some of the drugs can be used clinically
in small quantities to induce labor, stop
uterine bleeding, treat high blood
pressure and relieve migraine.
 Fungi also cause plant diseases such as
the chestnut blight fungus; some of them
could cause animal diseases like athlete’s
foot.
Figure 31.UN06
Fungal Distinguishing Features of
Phylum Morphology and Life Cycles

Chytridiomycota Flagellated spores

(chytrids)

Zygomycota Resistant zygosporangium

(zygote fungi) as sexual stage

Glomeromycota Arbuscular mycorrhizae

(arbuscular formed with plants
mycorrhizal
fungi)
Ascomycota Sexual spores (ascospores)
(ascomycetes, or borne internally in sacs
sac fungi) called asci; vast numbers
of asexual spores (conidia)
produced

Basidiomycota Elaborate fruiting body

(basidiomycetes, (basidiocarp) containing
or club fungi) many basidia that
produce sexual spores
(basidiospores)