The Fungi Kingdom
Mycology - the study of fungi
fungi - singular
fungus - plural
4 Main Characteristics of Fungi
1) fungi are eukaryotic
•they have a nuclei & mitochondria
2) they are heterotrophs
•they depend on other organisms for food
3) they are multicellular
4) they cannot move on their own
The Fungi Kingdom
4 Reasons Fungi Are Different From Plants
1) fungi lack chlorophyll
2) fungi are not photosynthetic
•cannot produce their own food
•most are saprophytes
•some are parasites
3) they never reproduce by seeds
Saprophytefeeds on
dead/decaying
organisms
4) most fungi have cell walls made
of chitin…
•Plant cell walls are made of what?
cellulose
The Fungi Kingdom
Parts of fungi:
Hyphae - network of thin thread-like structures
that form the “body” of a fungus
hypha - singular
hyphae - plural
• hyphae contain cytoplasm
• hyphae grow and branch until they cover and
digest the food source (upon which the fungi
is growing)
The Fungi Kingdom
Parts of fungi:
Mycelium - a mass of hyphae
mycelia - plural
•The mycelium is usually hidden in the soil, in
wood, or another food source
•A mycelium may fill
a single ant, or cover
many acres
The Fungi Kingdom
Main Types of Fungi:
1.Zygomycota/Common molds
Sporangium fungi reproduces by spores in the
sporangia
•Sporangia- structures found on the tips of
hyphae that make spores
Spraying with blue
•Eg: Bread Mold,Peronospore
•Bread mold
produces spores in
sporangia that stick
up above the bread
vitriol
The Fungi Kingdom
Types of Fungi
2. Sac Fungi -produce spores in sac-like
structures
Eg: yeasts,cup fungi,powdery mildews,Penicillinum
1. Reproduce sexually and asexually
a. Asexually by spores
b. Sexually by mating of hyphae filaments
Unicellular,
reproduces by budding
2. Sac fungi
(Ascomycotes)
Ergot
Morels
Sir Alexander Flemming-penicillin
3. Phylum Basidiomycota – Club Fungi
• Gets name from specialized reproduction structure resembling a
club, called basidium – found on the underside of mushroom cap in
the gills
• One mushroom may produce 1 billion spores
• Some are edible, some are toxic
• Examples: Mushrooms, toadstools
• Most elaborate life cycle of all the fungi
/or cup
button
The Fungi Kingdom
What are we looking at when we see a…
fungus-among-us?
The part of the
fungus that we see is
only the “fruit” of the
organism
The ‘living’ body of
the fungus is a
mycelium
The Fungi Kingdom
Fungi Reproduction:
•the structure of the fungi that you can see, is
the part that carries out reproduction
•most fungi reproduce by using spores
•fungi spores are microscopic
EX: Mushrooms & puffballs release large clouds
of spores. Each cloud contains millions of spores
Reproduction is classified according to:
1) the way they form the spores
2) the shape of the structure in which spores
are made
3. Club fungi (Basidiomycetes)
Jack-o’-lantern
Earth stars
Puffballs
Brackets
3. Club fungi (Basidiomycetes)
Toadstool
Champignon
Eg: Death cap
Importance of fungi
-many of them live in mutualism with the roots of trees.
They can substitute root hairs as in the case of pine trees.
-they can be decomposers
-they can cause diseases to plants, to animals or even humans
-they can be edible or poisonous
-they can be useful for alimentary,distilling and
pharmaceutical
industry
Truffles are round, warty, fungi that
are irregular in shape. They vary
from the size of a walnut to that of a
man's fist. Since the times of the
Greeks and Romans these fungi
have been used in Europe as
delicacies, as aphrodisiacs, and as
medicines. They are among the
most expensive of the world's
natural foods, often commanding as
much as $250 to $450 per pound.
Truffles are harvested in Europe with the aid of female pigs or truffle
dogs, which are able to detect the strong smell of mature truffles
underneath the surface of the ground. The female pig becomes excited
when she sniffs a chemical that is similar to the male swine sex
attractant. The use of dogs to find truffles is also and option.
Lichens
What Are Lichens?
• Lichens are made up of two, and some times
three, different organisms from three different
Kingdoms, which form a symbiotic relationship
with each other for their mutual survival.
• The dominant member is a ascomycetous fungus
(Kingdom Fungi), which is capable of making it's
own food.
– The fungus forms the visible portion of lichen inside of
which, and protected by them, are cells of an algae
(kingdom Protista) or some times cyanobacteria
(Kingdom Monera), once known as blue-green algae.
– Some lichen can consist of all three organisms at once.
Where do lichens belong in the
classification of living organisms?
* Lichens are dual organisms, so they are
difficult to place in a classification
* They represent symbiotic (mutualistic)
relationships between fungi and green algae,
fungi and cyanobacteria, or fungi and both
* The fungus is the dominant physical
component of the lichen thallus, and lichens
are usually classified with the fungi
* Nevertheless, the association appears to
have originated through fungi parasitizing
algae and/or cyanobacteria
Human Uses of Lichens
•Brown, purple and red fabric dyes (e.g. Scottish
tweeds and tartans)
* Part of the daily diet, e.g. Lecanora esculenta
(“manna”?) in Iran, flour from Cetraria islandica
(Iceland moss) in Scandinavian ship’s biscuits,
Inuit “nirukkaq” - partly digested lichens from
caribou & muskox stomachs in winter
* Commercial production of sugar in Russia,
WWII
* ‘Iwatake (Umbilicaria esculanta) as delicacy in
Japan
•More uses of lichens - medicine, embalming and
perfumery
Many lichen extracts are inhibitory to the
growth of Gram-positive bacteria
* Some are also effective against
Mycobacterium tuberculosus
* Oakmoss (Evernia prunastri) and Treemoss
(Pseudoevernia furfuracea) are used in Europe to
make fixatives for perfumes and soaps.
* The antibiotic properties of lichens were
exploited by the ancient Egyptians in their
embalming procedures
Lichens
Special characteristics of lichens
-they are pioneers
-they produce acid to dissolve rocks
-they don’t tolerate sulphur-dioxide in the air
-as they die massively in case of air pollution,
they are indicators of it.