1. Zygomycota The Stuff That Just Makes You Say EWW!

2. Zygomy-who?! Zygomycota are a phylum in the kingdom Fungi. Zygomycota make up approximately 1% of all true fungi. Common types of Zygomycota are bread molds, and fruit molds with high sugar content. There are about 900 species of Zygomycota worldwide.

3. Where in the world is Zygomycota? Zygomycota are everywhere! They are found in both terrestrial and aquatic environments. They are found all over the world. Most species are not even noticed by humans, because most species are too tiny to be seen by humans.

4. Are they going to take over the world? In a short answer, no. Fewer than half of the species of zygomycota have been cultured. Most of these that have been cultured are the fastest growing of them. The rest of the types cannot be cultured.

5. Let’s all be friends! Zygomycota grow in multi-cellular filaments called hyphae. A large group of hyphae is referred to as a colony, or, more technically, mycelium. A mycelium has many different cells contained in the many different hyphae. A hyphae contains all genetically identical nuclei in cells.

6. Fungus Sex Zygomycota are unique in their reproduction. Zygomycota reproduce sexually and asexually. They reproduce sexually through a pretty complicated process. This process includes a couple steps.

7. What happens behind closed mycelium Hyphae grows out in long strands. At the tips of these strands are haploid segments of the hyphae. When two haploid hyphae of different mating type come together, the growth of the gametangia commences. The next thing to occur is plasmogamy. This is the fusion of the cytoplasm. This is the fusion of the cytoplasm.

8. Mmmm…Plasmogamy After the cytoplasm of the two haploid hyphae have fused, karyogamy occurs. Karyogamy is the fusion of nuclei. This is the final part of the sexual reproduction. This is the final part of the sexual reproduction. This makes one diploid cell. This makes one diploid cell. A large part of reproduction occurs in zygomycota like this.

9. SPORES Spores are the cornerstone of asexual reproduction in zygomycota. The cornerstone of spores would be the sporangium. A sporangiophore (singular of sporangium) is a structure that contains and produces spores.

10. Asexuality: The choice for you? We cannot reproduce asexually, so don’t get any ideas. We cannot produce spores, so we can’t do it. Each spore has the potential to develop into a total new organism. When the spore finds conditions that are conducive to life, it springs into life. The spore undergoes mitotic division, and comes to life. Each asexually reproduced organism is capable of producing gametes.

11. Spores Gone Wild Most organisms in the phylum zygomycota just let their spores float freely. This isn’t a terrible idea, because the organisms are able to make spores in such great numbers that they don’t lose much if a spore does not succeed. There are some exceptions to this rule, as there are rebels in every phylum.

12. Pilobolus Pilobolus is the rebel organism. Pilobolus is a fungus that spends most of its time on animal dung, specifically herbivores. Pilobolus is unique, in that it can decide where it wants its spores to go. Are there any guesses as to how it does this?

13. A lot of work for more poop The sporangiophore of Pilobolus is very unique. It develops at the tip of a transparent stalk that the organism sends out of the top of a pile of excrement. The bubble shape of the sporangiophore acts as a lens, which directs light to carotenoid pigments at the base of the vesicle. This allows the sporangiophore to grow in the direction of more light, and light is often the place where plants grow.

14. Ka-BOOM!!! When pressure within the sporangiophore grows to a certain point (often over 100 psi) it bursts. When it bursts, it can send spores flying for up to 6 feet! This is especially amazing, considering that the sporangiophore itself is less than 1 cm tall. It is beneficial for spores to go towards light, because plants are often in light. Herbivores eat these plants, the spores survive through the digestive process, and the cycle begins again.

15. How does a fungus eat? Zygomycotes, like Rhizopus Stolonifer, bread mold, need nutrients. This nutrition is received by extending hyphae into the host food. These hyphae suck up the nutrients required by the organism. Most species of Zygomycota grow and survive best between 40 and 50 degrees Celsius.

16. Wait…Maybe They WILL Take Over! Zygomycota can take over an area incredibly fast. (second try). fast(second try) fast(second try) This is helped by the fact that their tiny spores are floating around in many many places. Once a zygomycote takes hold of a food stuff, it has control of it. Because it has two types of reproduction, it can often reproduce twice as fast. Even if it didn’t take it all over, would you want to eat some bread with just a little mold on it? This type of thinking helps it survive even better.

17. What do they do for me? To be honest, these fungi don’t do too much for humans. They balance it out though, by not being particularly harmful. They may be part of a group of fungi that is pathogenic to insects. The only bad thing that this fungus does, really, is make some of our old food inedible.

18. Sadly, the end Zygomycota don’t just have to be the stuff that makes you throw out your bread It can be the start of a new fun science experiment! It’s not very difficult to see mold with the naked eye, and with a microscope, it’s even more fun. Don’t forget everything I just told you, and I hope you have learned to respect the mold. Respect it!