1. Topics Ecological and economical significance What are fungi?
Ch. 29, Kingdom Fungi pp
Topics
Ecological and economical significance
What are fungi?
Structure of fungal body plan
Fungal reproduction – life cycles
Fungal phyla - cladogram

2. Fungi - Ecological Importance
Ch. 29, Kingdom Fungi pp
Fungi - Ecological Importance
Most fungi are saprotrophs – i.e. decomposers – release CO2, water, mineral nutrients – nutrient recycling
Degrade difficult materials such as cellulose and lignin
Many fungi are symbionts (e.g. lichens, mycorrhizae, grazing animals)
Many are parasites
Parasitic chytrids - may have caused amphibian decline in recent years
Mycorrhizae - mutualism between fungi and plant roots - seen in ~90% of all plant spp.
Fungus increases surface area of roots, enables greater water, nutrient uptake (mainly P)
Roots supply fungus with complex food material

3. Lichens Fungus – Mostly Ascomycota, rarely Basidiomycota
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Lichens
Fungus – Mostly Ascomycota, rarely Basidiomycota
Photosynthesizer – Chlorophyta or Cyanobacteria

4. with neither P, nor mycorrhiza No P with mycorrhiza
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Red cedar seedlings
with neither P, nor mycorrhiza
No P with mycorrhiza

5. Economic - biological - medical importance
Ch. 29, Kingdom Fungi pp
Economic - biological - medical importance
Fungal enzymes – reduce wood, waste
Some fungi - plant/human/animal diseases, some attack grains, aflatoxins
Yeast – model organism – yeast and other fungi - wine, beer, other fermented beverages, bread and cheeses
Aspergillus tamarii used to make soy sauce
Some basidiomycota are directly edible, as are ascomycota such as morels and truffles
Alexander Fleming - discovered penicillin - from mold Penicillium sp.
Many drugs are fungal-derived – e.g. Lovastatin (cholesterol drug)
Insulin, HGH, immunosuppresants

6. Ch. 29, Kingdom Fungi pp
Who/what are Fungi?
Eukaryotic, ~100,000 species, varied in shape, mostly terrestrial
Chitin + complex carbohydrates in cell wall
Not photosynthetic
Heterotrophs - saprobic, some parasitic
Important decomposers
Spores to weather difficult conditions
Very hardy organisms
Resistant to wide ranges of osmotic and pH conditions, and temperature

7. Fungal Body Mycelium - threadlike structures - hyphae
Ch. 29, Kingdom Fungi pp
Mycelium - threadlike structures - hyphae
Many hyphae - coenocytic; multicellular without frequent cross walls (c)
Others - septa - contain one or more nuclei
(c or d)

8. Fungal Reproduction
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By spores - reproductive cells usually haploid, microscopic, spread by wind/water/animals - mostly asexual
– sporangia
– fruiting bodies
– conidia
– budding
Sexual reproduction/cycle – pheromones – fusion of haploid hyphae – plasmogamy – dikaryotic stage – karyogamy resulting in zygote nucleus  sexual sporangia

9. Typical fungal life cycle
Ch. 29, Kingdom Fungi
p. 600.

10. Six Phyla Fruiting bodies, sexual spores, molecular data
Ch. 29, Kingdom Fungi p
Six Phyla
Fruiting bodies, sexual
spores, molecular data
– used for classification
Table 29-1
Deuteromycota –
Polyphyletic

11. Zygomycota Rhizopus sp. bread mold No septa Bread mold – heterothallic
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Rhizopus sp. bread mold
No septa
Bread mold –
heterothallic
Opportunistic
pathogen, unicellular
Microsporidia

12. Glomeromycota – AVM Fungi help in plant nutrition, defense and sharing
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Glomeromycota – AVM
Fungi help in
plant nutrition,
defense and
sharing
info/resources
with other plants

13. Ascomycota Sac/cup fungi: Most yeasts (including Saccharomyces sp.)
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Ascomycota
Sac/cup fungi:
Most yeasts (including
Saccharomyces sp.)
Powdery mildew
Blue-green, pink, and brown
molds on food
Edible morels and truffles
Dutch elm, chestnut blight

14. Basidiomycota Club fungi Common mushrooms (include Agaricus sp.),
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Basidiomycota
Club fungi
Common mushrooms
(include Agaricus sp.),
bracket fungi
Basidiocarp = stalk and
cup (of mushroom)