Kingdom
Fungi
• Eukaryotic organisms, which
means they have membrane bound
organelles.
• They have cell walls made of chitin.
• Mycologists study FUNGI!
Earth star
An example of Fungi You know
Kingdom
Fungi
Lack chlorophyll so they feed
decomposers
themselves by being ___________,
(which live off dead organisms and
recycle nutrients back
into
the
parasites
environment) or _____________,
(which live off living organisms).
Mushrooms – “Club Like” Fungi or Basidiomycete Fungi
Bracket Fungi – Basidiomycete Fungi
Bread Mold – a
Zygomycete Fungi
Cup Fungi – Ascomycete Fungi
Note the cup shapes and
orange peel color
Kingdom
Fungi
Fungi are heterotrophs that utilize a
special process called
Digestion
Extracellular ______________
_________________
to obtain nutrients.
(food is digested outside the fungal body with enzymes
and then absorbed)
Kingdom Fungi – you must know 5 Major Phyla
1. Phylum Zygomycota = the Bread Molds
Rhizopus – black bread mold
2. Oomycota = the Water Molds
Water mold, potato blight, mildew
3. Phylum Ascomycota = the Sac Fungi
Yeast, morels, truffles
4. Phylum Basidiomycota = the Club Fungi
Mushrooms, puffballs, bracket fungi, rusts, smuts,
toadstools
5. Phylum Deuteromycota = the Fungi Imperfecti
Kingdom
Fungi
• The mycelium or body of
a fungus is usually
composed of filaments
called a hyphae. It is
seldom seen since it grows
inside the host.
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/11/20/
oprahs-favorite-thingsth_n_73588.html?show_comment_id=1047
0383
Zygomycota (Rhizopus) the
Common Molds
-are primarily decomposers
-asexual spores may be produced in sporangia
-sexual reproduction occurs between + and – strains forming
a 2n zygote; a zygospore develops and may lie dormant for a
long period of time; meiosis occurs just before germination
-only the zygote is diploid; all hyphae and asexual
spores are haploid
Zygomycota – common molds
The fungal mass of
hyphae, known as the
MYCELIUM
penetrates the bread
and produces the
fruiting bodies on top
of the stalks
Mycelia = a mass of hyphae or
filaments
Rhizoids = root-like hyphae
The zhizoids meet underground and mating occurs between
hyphae of different molds (SEXUAL REPRODUCTION)
Water Molds -- Oomycota
The water molds are better known as the
MILDEWS. Fish tank fuzz is an example.
Protist-like mold because share common
characteristics with plant-like protists, such
as the cell wall
LifeCycle of Oomycota
Things to Know about Oomycete
Fungi
1.
2.
3.
4.
Water molds or mildews
Cause diseases such as potato blight
Cell walls made of cellulose (like plant)
Hyphae have multiple nuclei! Because
the cell walls do not fully close off.
5. Spore swims away like a flagellate, which
is why it is protist like (think of Euglena)
Irish Potato Famine of 19th Century
Devastated potato crops, causing
devastating starvation in Ireland 
Yeast is an Ascomycete Fungus
Bracket Fungi
Puff Balls
Basidiomycete Fungi that all
produce Basiospores
Jelly Fungi
Mushrooms
Other Basidiomycetes Rusts and
Smuts
Rust
infecting
wheat leaves
Rust infecting
a Leaf
Whitrot Smut
digesting old wood
Deuteromycota (Imperfect Fungi)
-Regarded as imperfect because they exhibit no sexual stage has
been observed in their life cycle
-Members are not closely related and are not necessarily similar
in structure or appearance; do not share a common ancestry,
polyphyletic = coming from many ancestors – hmm weird 
Deuteromycota – the Fungi
Imperfecti
• Resemble Ascomycetes,
but their reproductive
cycle has never been
observed
• Different from
Ascomycetes because
there is a definite lack of
sexual reproduction,
which is why they are
called Imperfect Fungi
Penicillium fungi
Up Close
Lichens
Lichens are mutualistic symbiotic
organisms. They have a fungus and
a cyanobacterial portion. There are
three lichen growth forms which are
predominant in nature:
_____________________________
Fruticose
Crustose
Foliose
LICHENS
• Lichens are often the first organisms to
enter a barren environment.
• The bacteria contribute energy
(photosynthesis) and the fungus
contribute anchorage, minerals, and a
home.
Mycorrhizae
Mycorrhizae means “fungus-root”;
mutualistic relationship between
plant and fungi
The plant photosynthesizes while
the fungus more efficiently takes
up nutrients and water from the
rhizosphere than the roots would
alone.
Plant benefits include:
•Improved nutrient/water
uptake
•Improved root growth
•Improved plant growth and
yield
•Improved disease resistance
•Reduced transplant shock
•Reduced drought stress
candida albicans
Yeast are used for baking!
Morels
Truffles
Morels and truffles used as food.
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.
…and then there
are the
decomposers!
… decomposers…
Penicillium
used for what???
Treatments for Fungal Infections
• Antifungal creams/powders
• Keep area clean and dry (fungus grows best in
moist, dark places)
• Carefully clean the shower or bath using
bleach.
• Hot wash socks, towels, bathmats at a
temperature of at least 60ºC.
• Regularly wash floors where you walk bare
foot.