Fungus Like Protists
Fungus Like Protists
All produce spores.
Most move by using psuedopods.
All are consumers.
– Decompose organic material.
Importance of Fungus Like Protists
Help break down dead organisms.
Cause diseases in platns and
animals.
– Ex.
• Water molds can cause disease in fish,
worms, diatoms, and other aquatic
organisms.
• Downy mildews caused the Irish potato
famine during the 1840’s and wiped out
grapes in the French wine industry in th
1870’s.
Fungus Like Protists
Divided into three phyla:
– Plasmoidial slime molds
• Phylum Myxomycota
– Cellular slime molds
• Phylum Acrasiomycota
– Water molds and downy mildews
• Phylum Oomycota
Slime Molds
Live in cool, moist, shady places.
Grow on damp, organic matter,
such as rotting leaves or decaying
tree stumps.
Beautifully colored.
Slime Molds
Animal-like during much of their life
cycle.
– Move using psuedopods.
Make spores to reproduce.
2 major types:
– Plasmoidial slime molds
– Cellular slime molds
Plasmoidial Slime Molds
Form a mass of cytoplasm with
many nuclei called a plasmodium.
– The plasmodium is the feeding stage
of the slime mold and moves slowly
across the surface of its food.
– A plasmodium may reach more than a
meter in diameter.
Plasmoidial Slime Molds
Reproduce sexually by producing
many separate spore-producing
stalks.
Cellular Slime Molds
Spend part of their life cycle as an
independent amoeboid cell that
feeds, grows, and divides by cell
division.
When food becomes scarce, these
cells form a mass in order to
reproduce.
Water Molds and Downy Mildews
Most live in water or moist places.
Some feed on dead organisms and
some are plant parasites.
Digest their food outside of the cell
and then absorb the nutrients.
Produce spores that have flagella.
Water Molds and Downy Mildews
Water Molds
– Some are parasites of plants.
– Some feed on dead organisms.
• Grow a mass of threads over their food
source, digest it, and then absorb the
nutrients.
– Most look like fuzzy white growths
that cover an organism.
– Produce flagellated reproductive cells.
Water Molds and Downy Mildews
Downy Mildew
– Parasite of plants.
– Like to live in areas with warm days
and cool, moist nights.