INTRODUCTION

?What is Mycology
MYCOLOGY is the study of fungi
Myco- = fungi
-ology = the study of

the study of fungi, includes their genetic and

biochemical properties, their taxonomy, and
their use to humans as source for medicinals
(e.g., penicillin), food (e.g., beer, wine,
cheese, edible mushrooms), as well as their
dangers, such as poisoning or infection.
 Kingdom Fungi
 The characteristics of fungi
 Fungal classification
 Fungal life cycles
 The Characteristics of Fungi
 Body form
– unicellular
– filamentous (tube-
like strands called
hypha (singular) or
hyphae (plural)
– mycelium =
aggregate of hyphae
– sclerotium =
hardened mass of
mycelium that
generally serves as
an overwintering
stage.
– fruit bodies
(mushrooms)
 Hyphae
 Tubular
 Hard wall of chitin
 Crosswalls may form
compartments (±
cells)
 Multinucleate
 Grow at tips
 Hyphal growth
 Hyphae grow from their tips
 Mycelium = extensive, feeding web of
hyphae
 Mycelia are the ecologically active bodies of
fungi

This wall is rigid Only the tip wall is plastic and stretches
 Mode of nutrition
 Heterotrophic – 'other food‘
 Fungi get carbon from organic sources
 Hyphal tips release enzymes
 Enzymatic breakdown of substrate
 Products diffuse back into hyphae

Nucleus hangs back

”and “directs

Product diffuses back

into hypha and is used
- Saprobes :
feed on dead tissues or organic
waste (decomposers)
Fungi as Saprobes and
Decomposers
– Symbionts :
mutually beneficial relationship
between a fungus and another
organism
Fungi as Symbionts (Mutualism)
 Mycorrhizae

 “Fungus roots”
 Mutualism between:
– Fungus (nutrient & water uptake for plant)
– Plant (carbohydrate for fungus)
 Lichens

 “Mutualism” between
– Fungus – structure
– Alga or cyanobacterium
– provides food
–Parasites :
feeding on living tissue of a host. 
 Parasites that cause disease are called
pathogens.
.Fungi as Parasites –Pathogens
 !!!Fungi are Spore-ific

 Spores - asexual (product of

mitosis) or sexual (product of
meiosis) in origin.
 Purpose of Spores
– Allows the fungus to
move to new food source.
– Resistant stage - allows
fungus to survive periods
of adversity.
– Means of introducing new
genetic combinations into
a population
 Reproduce by spores
 Spores are reproductive cells
– Sexual (meiotic in origin)
– Asexual (mitotic in origin)
 Formed:
– Directly on hyphae
– Inside sporangia
– Fruiting bodies

Penicillium
hyphae with
Pilobolus sporangia conidia
Amanita fruiting body
 Hyphal growth from spore

germinating mycelium
spore

 Mycelia have a huge surface area

Definitions and Fungal
Terminology
CLINICAL MYCOLOGY:
Remains more of a descriptive art than an analytical science.

Mold (sometimes spelled ‘mould’): is a morphological term

referring to a filamentous (multicellular) fungus.
Yeast is a morphological term referring to a unicellular fungus.

DIMORPHIC FUNGI: This class of fungi is characterized by two

forms of growth:
1. Growth as a mold with septate hyphae in their natural
reservoir (e.g. soil) or when incubated at 25° C. on conventional
fungal media (Sabouraud dextrose or potato dextrose agars).
2. Growth as a yeast in the tissues of an animal/person or when
incubated at 37° on enriched media (Brain heart infusion agar).
A hypha (plural hyphae) is a long, branching filamentous cell.
hyphae are the main mode of vegetative growth, and are
collectively called a mycelium.

Mycelium: the intertwined mass of hyphae that forms the

mold colony. The vegetative mycelium is composed of those
hyphae that adhere to the substrate and absorbs nutrients.
The aerial mycelium is composed of those hyphae that grow
up from the surface and support the spores.

Septate: Cross-walls (septae) that divide hyphae into

segments. If there are few or no cross-walls the hyphae
are considered to be aseptate.
Conidia (singular = conidium): asexual spores borne
externally on hyphae or on a conidiophore.

Conidiophore: the specialized hyphal stalk on which

conidia develop either singly or in Clusters.

Conidia

Conidiophore
Sporangia (singular = sporangium): spherical sack within
which asexual spores (sporangiospores) form by
progressive cytoplasmic cleavage.
Sporangiophore - specialized hyphal stalk which bears
sporangia.
Sporangiospores: small spores contained within
sporangia.

Sporangiospores

Sporangium

Sporangiophore
Germ-tube: The initial hyphal outgrowth of a germinating
spore or yeast; especially important for identification of
Candida albicans.
Pseudohyphae (or Pseudomycelium):
chains of successively budding
yeast cells that have complete cell
walls, but have not detached from
one another.
Rhizoid: rootlike branched hyphae which
anchor the mycelium to the substrate;
characteristic of certain Zygomycetes
(Rhizopus and Absidium).
Dematiaceous Molds: the term dematiaceous refers to molds
whose hyphae are pigmented. Because of the pigment, the
colonies of these fungi will appear dark green, brown, or
black on both the top and reverse (underside).