1. Kingdom: Fungi Domain Eukarya Domain Bacteria Archaea Eukarya
Common ancestor

2. Fungi Characteristics
Cell walls of chitin
Absorb nutrients by releasing powerful enzymes into their food and then absorbing the digested nutrients.
Lack chlorophyll
Multicellular heterotrophs

3. Fungal Structure Fungal body Cells Cell wall mycelium multiple nuclei
thread-like cells
hyphae
Cells
multiple nuclei
Cell wall
chitin
just like crab shells

5. Aaaaah, structure–function relationship!
Internal structure
chitin cell wall
septum
Eukaryotic cells
long, thread-like cells
filamentous
incomplete divisions between cells
septum
multiple nuclei
pore
nuclei
Aaaaah, structure–function relationship!

6. Fungi live IN their food! It’s like you living in Chocolate cake!
Modes of Nutrition
Heterotrophic
secrete digestive enzymes
feed by absorption
parasites
feeding on living creatures
predators
paralyzing prey
decomposer
breakdown dead remains
fungal hypha
plant cell wall
plant cell membrane
plant cell
Fungi live IN their food!
It’s like you living in Chocolate cake!

7. Fungi as Parasites, continued
Plant Diseases
About 80% of plant diseases are caused by fungi
A fungal parasite, black stem rust, growing on a wheat plant

8. Corn smut is a fungal pathogen. The grayish growths are called galls
Corn smut is a fungal pathogen. The grayish growths are called galls. Analogous to the fruiting body of a mushroom. When a gall matures, it breaks open and releases thousands of blackish spores. In parts of Central America, the smutted ears are cooked and eaten as a delicacy, but generally corn smut is regarded as a scourge. Certain genetic strains of corn are resistant to it.
Corn smut

9. Ergots on rye caused by the fungus Claviceps purpurea
Consumption of flour made from ergot-infested grain can cause gangrene, nervous spasms, burning sensations, hallucinations, temporary insanity, and death. One epidemic in Europe in the year 944 killed more than 40, 000 people. Several kinds of toxins have been isolated from ergots. One, called lysergic acid, is the raw material from which the hallucinogenic drug LSD is made. Certain others are medicinal in small doses. An ergot compound is useful in treating high blood pressure and stopping maternal bleeding after childbirth.
However as recently as 1951, in Pont-St. Esprit, a small town in France, there was an outbreak of the disease. First a bit of background-- in Europe it is the custom to buy fresh bread nearly every day. Much more civilized than our American custom of buying bread with preservatives in it that allow it to last several weeks. In this small town there was only one bakery and everyone bought bread from it. Strange things started happening. People developed a burning sensation in their limbs, began to hallucinate that they could fly, did strange things to their dogs with forks and in general acted weirdly. This outbreak is chronicled in a marvelous (but out of print) book called "The day of St Anthony's Fire" by John Grant Fuller. St. Anthony is the patron saint of lost causes (incidentally I went to St. Anthony's church until I was about 18). When all of the other saints have failed, St. Anthony is the one you are supposed to pray to. And St. Anthony's fire was rampant in the town that day. Similar outbreaks probably occurred throughout the world wherever the conditions were right for the growth of Claviceps purpurea. The chemical responsible for the hallucinations is actually LSD! lysergic acid.
So what does this all have to do with the Salem Witch Trials, which took place near Salem Massachusetts in the late 1600's? There have been various attempts to explain those witch trials. None of them are more logical and interesting than the hypothesis of ergot poisoning, caused by Claviceps purpurea. The behavior was not identified as witchcraft until 1691, and this was just the beginning of the problem. Many people were sent to trial and often convicted and imprisoned. By September 1692 twenty men and women had been put to death for their crimes. All of the accused had similar symptoms: manic melancholia, psychosis, delirium, crawling sensations of the skin, vertigo, headaches, vomiting and diarrhea. All of these are symptoms of ergot poisoning, and it is likely that at list the initial hysteria was started by Claviceps purpurea infecting the grains of rye. This was chronicled in an article (Science 192:21-26, 1976) by Linnda R. Caporael called "Ergotism: The Satan Loosed in Salem?" She provides compelling, although circumstantial, evidence that the Salem witch trials coincided with a weather period that would have produced large quantities of ergot on rye, which was grown in the lowlands in that area.
Ergots on rye caused by the fungus Claviceps purpurea

10. American elm tree killed by Dutch elm disease
The parasitic fungus that causes Dutch elm disease evolved with European species of elm trees, and it is relatively harmless to them. But it is deadly to American elms. Accidentally introduced into the United States on logs sent from Europe to pay World War I debts, the fungus was carried from tree to tree by bark beetles.
American elm tree killed by Dutch elm disease

11. Tinea pedis, ringworm of the foot/“athlete’s foot”
Human Diseases
Tinea pedis, ringworm of the foot/“athlete’s foot”

12. Tinea corporis, ringworm of trunk, arms or legs
Human Diseases
Tinea corporis, ringworm of trunk, arms or legs

13. Human Diseases
Candidiasis/thrush

14. Sporotrichosis/“rose-picker’s disease”
Human Diseases
Sporotrichosis/“rose-picker’s disease”

15. Fungi as Parasites, continued
Other Animal Diseases
This dragonfly is the victim of a fungus of the genus Cordyceps.

16. Ecological Roles Symbiotic Relationships recycle nutrients
fungi + algae
pioneer species in ecosystems
makes soil from bare rock
fungi + plants
enables plants to absorb more water

17. Mycorrhizae Critical role in plant growth
extends water absorption of roots
without mycorrhizae
with mycorrhizae
Endomycorrhiza
Ectomycorrhiza

18. Reproduction Asexual Sexual budding in yeast spores
spread by wind
joining of + & – haploid spores
haploid spores

19. Phylogeny
Chrytridiomycota used to be classified as protists, now are classified as fungi.

20. Example Rhizopus. Black bread mold
Zygomycota

21. Rhizopus

22. Conidia are for asexual reproduction
8 ascospores in asci
Ascomycota

25. Basidiomycete Life Cycle
gills lined
with basidia
fruiting body
basidium
(n + n) dikaryotic
2n (diploid)
(n) haploid
zygote
strain
MEIOSIS
spores
FUSION of
and
hyphae
strain

26. Basidiomycota Asexual is uncommon Reproductive parts are above ground
Puffball is example
Basidiomycota

30. Shelf fungus decomposing wood
Stinkhorn fungus

31. Fairy Rings

32. Name and Match the Structures

33. The FIRST Antibiotics

34. Unique Lifestyles Molds:
Only considered mold in asexual part of lifecycle
Deuteromycetes
molds that have shown no sexual stages
Comercial uses:
Antibiotics
fermenters on blue cheese
cyclosporine

35. Any Questions??