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KINGDOM FUNGI
Chapter 23
I. Domain Eukarya, Kingdom Fungi
A. Heterotrophs
1. Most are saprophytes—
a. Feed on dead organic material
b. Secrete digestive enzymes and
absorb nutrients
2. Some are parasites
B. Body is a mycelium
1. A network of filaments called
hyphae
2. Grows rapidly (individual hypha can
grow 18’ a day)
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C. Lack chlorophyll and chloroplasts
D. Have cell walls that contain chitin—a
polysaccharide that contains nitrogen
E. Fungi produce reproduce by spores
F. Gene sequencing shows fungi are
genetically closer to animals than
plants!
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Plants
Amoebozoans
Fungi
Animals
G. Phylum Zygomycota or zygospore fungi
1. Mainly saprophytes; some parasites
2. Ex.--Rhizopus stolonifer (black
bread mold)
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Another example of Zygomycota fungi. Pilobolus,
“hat thrower”. The dark hats are spore cases which
can throw the contained spores about 6.5 feet.
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H. Phylum Ascomycota or sac fungi
1. About 75% of all known fungi in
this group, over 32,000 species
2. Other significant sac or cup fungi
include Penicillium; Aspergillus—
for soy sauce; and statins for
cholesterol lowering drugs.
Morels and truffles are eaten as
delicacies; powdery mildew on
leaves; ergot on rye (rots the
grain); red bread mold; yeasts
Scarlet Cup Fungus.
The cup is an
ascocarp.
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Sir Alexander Fleming,
Discoverer of Penicillin, Nobel
Prize in Medicine, 1945
Aspergillus fungus fermenting
protein in soy beans to make Soy
Sauce.
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Morels, an
edible sac
fungus.
A basket of edible black truffles.
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Italian White truffle, washed and cleaned. In
2009, a 1.6 lb. specimen sold to a California
restaurant for $150,000 and in 2010 a pair
weighing 2.2 lbs. sold to a Chinese restaurant
owner for $330,000. Grow underground and
are hunted for with truffle sniffing hogs and
dogs.
Powdery Mildew
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Ergot on Rye
Perkins Lab, Stanford Uni.
photo D. Jacobson
http://nobelprize.org
Their work with
Neurospora crassa led to
Nobel Prize in Medicine&
Physiology in 1958.
Beadle and Tatum, Stanford
University biologists,exposed
red bread mold, Neurospora
crassa to x-rays & produced
mutants which could not grow
unless given specific vitamins.
Discovered they were missing
a single enzyme linked to a
mutated gene. Proposed the
“One Gene, One Enzyme”
theory. Founded the science
of biomedical genetics which
later became molecular
genetics.
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3. Unicellular yeasts
a. Critical in making wine &
beer & making bread to rise
b. CO2 from yeast cells causes
dough to rise; bubbly in beer
and wine.
Yeast cells with buds.
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I. Phylum Basidiomycetes or club fungi
1. In mushrooms, basidia are fruiting
bodies that develop
2. What we commonly refer to as
toadstools and mushrooms
3. Include shelf; bracket; puffballs;
bird’s nest; stinkhorns; Amanita;
smuts; rusts
4. Many decompose forest plants;
only type that can break down
lignin (wood).
“Fairy Ring of Toadstools”;
usually decaying roots from a
dead tree.
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Shelf Fungus
Bracket Fungus
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Bird’s Nest Fungus
Puffball
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Stink Horn Fungus
“Death Angel or Death Cap”. Causes 90% of all mushroom
poisonings; 1/3 are fatal. White cap, gills, and spores;
common in your yard.
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CORN SMUT
Yellow Wheat Rust
Photo-Stuart Spivack
II. Fungal Relationships
A. Lichens
1. Symbiotic (mutualism)
relationships between a fungus and
a cyanobacterium or a green algae;
fungus houses the two and absorbs
water; the algae photosynthesizes
and provides sugars for food.
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2. Polution indicators
3. Types: crustose; foliose; fruticose
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B. Mycorrhizae fungi
1. Fungus roots
a. Mutualistic symbiotic
relationships between soil
fungi and roots of most plants
b. Fungus provides plants with
inorganic nutrients
c. Plant provides fungus with
organic nutrients
Mycorrhizae—The Fungus-Roots
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III. Pathogens
A. Plant:
1. smuts and rusts;
2. powdery mildew on leaves;
3. leaf curl fungi;
4. chestnut blight;
5. Dutch elm disease;
6. ergot on rye
Plant Fungi
Pathogens
Rust pustules on Plumeria
CORN SMUT
Photo-Stuart Spivack
Yellow Rust on
Wheat
Powdery Mildew
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More Plant
Fungal
Pathogens
Chestnut
Blight
Leaf Curl
Ergot on
Rye
Dutch Elm Disease
B. Human diseases
1. Athlete’s foot
2. Ringworm
3. Histoplasmosis: common soil
fungus associated with bird
droppings; only about 5% of
people show symptoms but 3000
people a year develop lung
disease from these fungal spores
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A case of Athlete’s Foot
Ringworm Infections
can be passed from
pets to children by
touching the infected
animal.
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4. Candida albicans causes vaginal
yeastlike infection and oral
thrush
5. Claviceps purpurea—parasite of
rye and cereal grains; affects
flour causing poisoning or
ergotism. Symptoms include
vomiting, convulsions, and
auditory hallucinations.
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Oral Thrush
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