1. Last day- introduced the
‘protists’ – eukaryotes that
are not plants, fungi or
animals
- have covered Excavata,
Chromalveolata
(Alveolates & Stramenopiles),
now move on to Rhizaria…

2. Foraminiferans , Cercozoans & Radiolarians
are somewhat distant relatives grouped as Rhizaria
- all have threadlike pseudopodia (so ‘amoebas’ of sorts)
‘Forams’ have shells
(‘tests’) with
calcium carbonate
pseudopodia extend
through pores for
swimming, feeding
may have symbiotic
algae in test
- important fossils

3. Radiolarians have tests made of silica, long ‘axopodia’

4. Next eukaryotic ‘supergroup’ to be covered is…
the Archaeplastida, which includes the red and green
algae (plus the land plants…)
- all descended from protist that swallowed a cyanobacterium

6. Red algae (Rhodophyta) are larger multicellular algae,
often in warmer seas
Absorb green & blue light well (in deeper water), due to
phycoerythrin, an accessory pigment
- no flagellated stages, gametes depend on currents

7. Some red algae
harvested as food
e.g. nori from
Porphyra

8. Green algae (Chlorophyta) may be single-celled, colonial,
multi-nucleate or relatively large & complex

9. More than 7,000 spp.,
most in fresh water
but also marine or
other habitats
Chlamydomonas nivalis
in glacier snow

10. Most have complex life cycles, some with alternation of
generations
Chlamydomonas undergoes sexual reproduction only in
harsh conditions

11. The last big group of
eukaryotes, the Unikonta,
divides into the ‘protists’
known as Amoebozoans
(‘slime molds’,
gymnamoebas, &
entamoebas)…
…and the Opisthokonts
that includes fungi &
animals (not ‘protists’!)

12. Amoebozoans have
lobe-shaped pseudopodia
includes gymnamoebas,
entamoebas, & ‘slime
molds’
Gymnamoebas are common
in water and soil
usually engulf prey
(bacteria or protists)
- no sex

13. Entamoebas are parasitic
- Entamoeba histolytica causes amoebic dysentery
- causes up to 100,000 deaths per year

14. ‘Slime molds’ formerly thought to be close to fungi
Plasmodial slime molds form brightly colored network
- multinucleate ‘supercell’
- cytoplasm flows back & forth
- engulfs food particles with pseudopodia

15. Mostly diploid, produces fruiting bodies & spores when
conditions are harsh
spores produce haploid flagellated or ameboid cells
which fuse to form diploid stage again

16. Cellular slime molds forage as solitary amoebas, aggregate
(but do not fuse) when times tough
some cells form stalk (and die), other cells crawl to top
and release spore
Dictyostelium

17. Amoebas can also fuse to form zygote
zygote consumes other amoebas to become ‘giant cell’
forms resistant wall, later produces new amoebas

18. Kingdom Fungi

19. Fungi often overlooked, though they play an important role in ecosystems as decomposers
- recycle vital chemical elements back to environment in forms other organisms can assimilate

20. Most plants depend on mutualistic fungi to help their roots
absorb minerals and water from the soil
cultivated for centuries for food, to produce antibiotics &
other drugs, to make bread rise, & to ferment beer & wine

21. Fungi are heterotrophs that acquire their nutrients by absorption.
- absorb small organic molecules from the surrounding medium.
- use exoenzymes to break down food outside body

22. Ecological roles as decomposers (saprobes), parasites, &
mutualistic symbionts
- saprobic fungi absorb nutrients from dead organisms or
organic compounds
parasitic fungi absorb nutrients from cells of living hosts
- mutualistic fungi also absorb nutrients from hosts, but also
benefit their partner in some way

23. - most species are multicellular
Extensive surface area & rapid growth adapt fungi for absorptive nutrition
- most species are multicellular
- vegetative bodies of most are constructed of tiny filaments
called hyphae, form an interwoven mat called a mycelium

24. Hyphae have cell walls made mainly of chitin
- most fungi multicellular, hyphae divided into cells by
cross walls, or septa
- those without septa called coenocytic.
- septa generally have pores large enough for organelles, nuclei to pass through

25. (a) Hyphae adapted for trapping and killing prey
Nematode
Hyphae
25 m
(a) Hyphae adapted for trapping and killing prey
(b) Haustoria
Fungal hypha
Plant cell wall
Haustorium
Plant cell plasma membrane
Plant cell
Hyphae may be specialized
to feed on animals
- or as haustoria,
which may form
associations with
plant roots called
mycorrhizae

26. Fungi produce spores through sexual or asexual life cycles
- one reproductive structure may release trillions of spores
(e.g. puffballs)
- dispersed by wind or water, spores germinate if they land in a moist place where there is food

27. Nuclei of fungal hyphae & spores of most species
are haploid, except for transient diploid stages that form
during sexual life cycles

28. Sexual reproduction: hyphae from 2 genetically distinct
mycelia release pheromones (signaling molecules)
- union of the cytoplasm of two parent mycelia known as
plasmogamy
- leads to heterokaryotic stage with 2 different nuclei in
same cell, but they do not fuse (yet…)

29. - later, karyogamy occurs when nuclei fuse
- diploid nucleus then undergoes meiosis to form spores

30. Many fungi reproduce asexually
yeast cells budding
Many fungi reproduce asexually
- processes of asexual reproduction in fungi vary widely

31. Fungi & animals more closely related to each other than to plants or most other eukaryotes
- fungi evolved from a unicellular, flagellated protist
- members of Opisthokonta, including animals, fungi, &
closely related protists, possess flagella
- the lineages of fungi that diverged earliest (the chytrids)
have flagella

32. Animals & fungi likely diverged about a billion
years ago, based on genetic differences
- oldest undisputed fossils only 460 million years
old, likely that first fungi were unicellular, did
not fossilize well

33. Very early fossils (420-400 MYA) show mycorrhizal associations
fossil from Rhynie Chert,
early Devonian, Scotland
Very early fossils ( MYA) show mycorrhizal
associations

34. Five different phyla
generally recognized
within Fungi

35. Genetic evidence suggests microsporidians also are fungi
(or closely related)
- intracellular parasites, no functional mitochondria

36. Phylum Chytridiomycota - Chytrids
Hyphae
Flagellum
4 m
Chytrids ubiquitous in lakes, streams, soil
- have flagellated zoospores
- chitin in cell walls, absorptive nutrition, similar enzymes
- coenocytic hyphae (some unicellular)

37. May be saprobes, parasites or mutualists
- appear to be a major cause of worldwide decline of
amphibians

38. Phylum Zygomycota – Zygomycetes
About 1000 spp., including many molds on food & other
saprobes, also parasites & some commensals (neutral
symbionts)

39. Life cycle of Rhizopus stolonifer, black bread mold,
is typical
- hyphae are coenocytic, septa only where reproductive
cells are formed
In asexual phase, hundreds of haploid spores develop in sporangia at tips of upright hyphae.

40. If environmental conditions deteriorate, zygomycetes may
reproduce sexually
- plasmogamy of opposite mating types produces a
zygosporangium (tough & resistant)

41. Initially, zygosporangium is heterokaryotic
- if conditions improve karyogamy occurs, then meiosis
to produce genetically diverse spores

42. 1
Mycelia have various mating types (here designated +, with red nuclei, and , with blue nuclei).
Neighboring mycelia of different mating types form hyphal extensions called gametangia, each walled off around several haploid nuclei by a septum. 2
Rhizopus growing on bread
ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION
Mycelium
Dispersal and germination
MEIOSIS
KARYOGAMY
PLASMOGAMY
Key
Haploid (n)
Heterokaryotic (n + n)
Diploid
Sporangium
Diploid nuclei
Zygosporangium (heterokaryotic)
100 m
Young zygosporangium (heterokaryotic)
SEXUAL REPRODUCTION
Mating type (+)
Mating type ()
Gametangia with haploid nuclei
50 m
Sporangia
A heterokaryotic zygosporangium forms, containing multiple haploid nuclei from the two parents. 3 4 5 6 7 9
This cell develops a rough, thick-walled coating that can resist dry environments and other harsh conditions for months.
When conditions are favorable, karyogamy occurs, followed by meiosis.
The zygosporangium then breaks dormancy, germinating into a short sporangium.
The sporangium disperses genetically diverse, haploid spores
The spores germinate and grow into new mycelia. 8
Mycelia can also reproduce asexually by forming sporangia that produce genetically identical
haploid spores.

43. Some zygomycetes can aim & shoot their spores in appropriate direction
Pilobolus
Some zygomycetes can aim & shoot their spores in
appropriate direction