FUNGI

COMMON FUNGI EXAMPLES: Mushrooms, yeasts, molds, morels, bracket fungi, puff balls

FUNGI All fungi share several main characteristics They are heterotrophs that obtain food by decomposing organic matter. Fungi were once considered plants, but contain no chlorophyll and are not photosynthetic. They are also non- motile which means that they don’t move to get to their food source. Most fungi are multicellular, but are unlike animals and plants, therefore they are placed in their own kingdom

FUNGI GENERAL INFORMATION Fungus are primarily decomposers which means that they break down once living or organic matter and return it to the soil. Some fungus are parasites and live off and harm other organisms. Some examples of parasitic fungi are athlete’s foot and ringworm. No matter what kind of fungus, they thrive in moist, dark, warm places, BUT can be found just about anywhere, even the north pole.

FUNGI FEEDING TYPES (NUTRITION) Saprophytic – feed on dead matter Parasitic – feed on living organisms

IMPERFECT FUNGI

FUNGI Classification FOUR GROUPS OF FUNGI – 81,500 species of fungi divided by structure and reproduction ZYGOMYCETES – bread molds ASCOMYCETES – sac fungi (morels, truffles, and yeasts BASIDIOMYCETES – mushrooms, puff balls DEUTEROMYCETES – imperfect fungi (penicillium)

Yeasts are unicellular fungi that are used to make flour and water rise. When baked, you get bread!

molds

mildews

rusts

smuts

mushrooms

GIANT PUFFBALL

USES of Fungi Not all bacteria harm other organisms. As a matter of fact most fungi can be very useful. Did you know that they can cure disease? Antibiotics like penicillin kill bacteria which are the cause of infections. While some kinds of fungi are poisonous, we eat many fungi for food like mushrooms, yeast, blue cheese

FUNGI STRUCTURE Fungi are made of tiny thread-like tubes called hyphae. Hyphae can be very dense or tightly packed. They carry water and other chemicals necessary for digestion.

FUNGI STRUCTURE Very tiny hyphae that grow below the surface of whatever the fungi is growing on are called mycelium. While they look like roots they are not.

FUNGI Structure The fruiting body is the visible part of a fungi above the surface. It contains spore producing structures. Mushrooms have a cap that serves as the fruiting body.

Reproduction Fungi typically reproduce asexually which means that only one parent needed to make an offspring. This is possible because fungi produce microscopic cells called spores. These spores are released and carried by wind, rain, or even animals through the environment. Once they land, if conditions are right (damp and dark) the cells will divide and grow into a network of mycelium and then into hyphae.

How FUNGI Get Energy Fungi are heterotrophs. First the hyphae grow into a food source like a dead log or even dirt. At the ends of the hyphae, digestive enzymes are secreted or injected into the food. Those chemicals will break down the material is touches. Finally, the hyphae absorbs the digested nutrients for the rest of the cells to use for energy.

FUNGI REMEMBER…… Need organic material and moisture. Live almost everywhere, from polar icecaps to deserts to oceans Reach new areas through spores carried by wind Spores are necessary to find new food sources.

Some additional information on types of fungi……

FUNGI Common molds –Zygomycetes Frequently found in soil or on dead animals or plants Hyphae lack septa Specialized hyphae Rhizoids that absorb nutrients and hold molds to their food source Stolons that connect groups of rhizoids together Sporangia produces spores during reproduction

FUNGI ZYGOMYCOTA gets its name from the tough spores produced during sexual reproduction

FUNGI Sac fungi –Ascomycetes Powdery mildews, yeasts, fungi in lichens, and morels Characteristic that links these are production of saclike structures called asci during sexual reproduction Asexually reproduction is rare

FUNGI Club Fungi –Basidiomycetes Mushrooms are club fungi Have a tendency to reproduce sexually Asexually reproduction is rare Three visible structures of mushrooms Stipe Cap Gills made from tightly packed mycelia Fruiting bodies are called basidia

Structure of Mushroom annulus stipe

FUNGI Imperfect fungi – Deuteromycetes Reproduce asexually and NOT sexually Examples are athlete’s foot & ringworm Example that is helpful is Penicillium because it make the antibiotic Spores called conidia come from hyphae called conidiophores

FUNGI ECOLOGICAL ROLES SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIPS LICHEN --a symbiotic association between a fungus and a photosynthetic partner, usually a cyanobacterium or green alga. The fungi hyphae provide protection and hold moisture while food is provided by the photosynthetic partner.

FUNGI ECOLOGICAL ROLE -- SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP WITH PLANT ROOTS Mycorrhizae: a symbiotic association between a fungus and plant roots. Over 90% of plants have fungi associated with their roots. The fungus absorbs and concentrates phosphates for delivery to the plant roots. In return, the fungus receives sugars synthesized by the plant during photosynthesis.