Definitions
Mycologists--scientists who study
fungi
Mycology--scientific discipline
dealing with fungi
Mycoses--diseases caused in
animals by fungi
What is a fungus?
A eukaryotic, heterotrophic
organism devoid of chlorophyll that
obtains its nutrients by absorption,
and reproduces by spores.
The primary carbohydrate storage
product of fungi is glycogen.
Most fungi have a thallus
composed of hyphae (sing. hypha)
that elongate by tip growth
The fungal thallus consists of hyphae; a
mass of hyphae is a mycelium.
Structure of fungi
The Characteristics of Fungi
Fungi are NOT plants
Hyphae = tubular units of
construction
Heterotrophic by absorption
Reproduce by spores
Ecologically pivotal roles
Hyphae
Tubular
Hard wall of chitin
Cross walls may
form compartments
(± cells)
Multinucleate
Grow at tips
Heterotrophic by Absorption
Fungi get carbon from organic sources
Hyphal tips release enzymes
Enzymatic breakdown of substrate
Products diffuse back into hyphae
Nucleus hangs back
and “directs”
Product diffuses back
into hypha and is used
Modifications of hyphae
Hyphal growth
Hyphae grow from their tips
Mycelium = extensive, feeding web of
hyphae
Mycelia are the ecologically active bodies of
fungi
This wall is rigid
Only the tip wall is plastic and stretches
Hyphal growth from spore
germinating
spore
mycelium
Reproduce by spores
Spores are reproductive cells
Sexual
Asexual
Formed:
Directly on hyphae
Inside sporangia
Fruiting bodies
Amanita fruiting body
Pilobolus sporangia
Penicillium hyphae
Kingdom
Fungi
Nutritional Type
Chemoheterotroph
Multicellularity
All, except yeasts
Cellular Arrangement
Unicellular, filamentous,
fleshy
Food Acquisition Method
Absorptive
Characteristic Features
Sexual and asexual spores
Embryo Formation
None
Fungi are ancient
Major fungal lineages are ancient,
perhaps emerging one billion years
ago
Fungi were present before the
emergence of animals and vascular
plants
Old and Modern Classification
Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) the
“Father of Taxonomy”
“ Minerals exist; plants
exist and live; animals
exist, live and sense.”
Plants without obvious
sexual organs were
classified in Class
Cryptogamia (lichens,
fungi, mosses, ferns)
Fungi are primitive (asli)
plants under this
classification of organisms.
Old Classification
The Five kingdom system
Eukarya (includes all organism with a
nucleus & membrane bound
organelles)
Plants and Animals are fairly obvious
(ketara)
Fungi, are very distinct (berlainan) from the
other kingdoms
Kingdom Protista is a “dumping
ground” for organisms that don’t fit into
the other eukaryotic kingdoms
(Whittaker, 1969)
Modern Classification
At least 7 kingdoms are now recognized:
Eubacteria, Archaebacteria, Animalia,
Plantae, Eumycota, Stramenopila
(Chromista), Protoctista (Protozoa,
Protista)
Systems of classifying fungi
1) 1860
HOGG proposed the term PROTOCTISTA - fungi and neither
Plant or Animal.
This kingdom composed mostly of unicellular organisms.
The kingdom was later replaced by 2 kingdoms – MYCOTA &
MONERA (prokaryotes) and PROTOCTISTA(eukaryotes).
2) 1947
Microscopes enable study of complex structural characteristics.
New classification (WOLF & WOLF, 1947)
3) 1969
Fungi in its own kingdom by WHITTAKER – FUNGI KINGDOM.
Systems of classifying fungi
4) 1998
Modification by MARGUILIS & SCHWARTZ – used characteristics
(structure & function).
• MONERA: Prokaryotes – bacteria, actinomycetes, blue-green
algae.
• PROTOCTISTA: Eukaryotes – protozoa and other unicellular and
colonial organisms such as water moulds, slime moulds and
slime nets.
• FUNGI : Eukaryotes – organisms that lack flagella that develop
from spores such as yeast, molds, rusts and mushrooms.
• PLANTAE: Eukaryotes – organisms that develop from embryos
such as liverworts, mosses and vascular plants.
• ANIMALIA: Eukaryotes – organisms that develop from a
blastula (hollow ball of cells) such a sponges, worms,
arthropods and mammals.
MARGUILIS & SCHWARTZ(1998)
Classify the fungi into 3 phyla : Zygomycota,
Ascomycota and Basidiomycota.
Chytrids (CHYTRIDIOMYCOTA) in the
Kingdom Proctista.
Deuteromycota with their closest relatives
that are the Ascomycota and
Basidiomycota.
Lichen with the Phylum Ascomycota.
Other classifications
MOORE, 1998 (quoted from Pfieffer, M., et al.,
2001) states that plants, animals and fungi
can be separated based on how they
obtain energy.
Plants possess (memiliki) chloroplasts as
photosynthetic structures used to produce
food.
Animals possess mitochondria used for
internalized digestion.
Fungi excrete enzymes into the food source
they live within external digestion.
Classification using molecular
research techniques
BALDAUF & PALMER (1993), WAINWRIGHT et
al. (1993) and HASEGAWA et al (1993)
The above current schemes agree that the
three major kingdoms are separated and
thereby confirmed that there are no
connection between the fungi-plant
kingdom.
KINGDOM
CHARACTERISTIC
EXAMPLE
Monera
Prokaryocyte
Protista
Eukaryocyte
Bacteria
Actinomyces
Protozoa
Fungi
Eukaryocyte *
Fungi
Plants
Eukaryocyte
Animals
Eukaryocyte *
Plants
Moss
Arthropods
Mammals
Man
Question 2
Fill in the blanks of the systematic of classification
1) Kingdom
2) Division / Phylum
3) ___________
4) Order
5) ___________
6) Tribe
7) ___________
8) Species
Sometimes there are subdivisions and subclasses
Hierarchical Classification
Kingdom Fungi
Phylum Basidiomycota
Class Basidiomycetes
Order Agaricales
Family Agaricaceae
Genus Agaricus
Species:
Agaricus campestris L.
Fungus versus Fungi
“Fungus” is used inclusively for a
heterogenous group of organisms
that have traditionally been studied
by mycologists
“Fungi” refers to the organisms in the
Kingdom Fungi, the true fungi, also
called the “Eumycota”
How are fungi named?
To determine the correct name for a
taxon, certain steps must be
followed, including:
Effective publication
Valid publication
• Description or diagnosis in Latin
• Clear indication of rank
• Designated type
Nomenclature
Nomenclature: the “allocation (pemberian
bahagian) of scientific names to the units a
systematist considers to merit formal
recognition.” (Hawksworth et al., 1995.
The Dictionary of the Fungi).
The nomenclature of fungi is governed by
the International Code for Botanical
Nomenclature, as adopted by the
International Botanical Congress.
How many species of fungi exist?
- 80,000 species of fungi
described
- 1,700 new species
described each year
How many species of fungi exist?
- 80,000 species of fungi described
- 1,700 new species described
each year
Reasons why it is not easy to classify
fungi
Fungi comprise (mengandungi) of a broad
number of organisms.
Fungi have various forms depending on the
environment and conditions in which they
grow.
Many terms being used to describe the
morphological structures of fungi.
Basic Characteristics and
Life Cycles
Ascomycota
(inc.Deuteromycetes)
Basidiomycota
Zygomycota
Mitosporic Fungi (Fungi
Imperfecti)
Ascomycota – “sac fungi”
Teleomorphic fungi
Produce sexual and
asexual spores
Sex. – asci
Asex. – common
Cup fungi, morels, truffles
Important plant parasites &
saprobes
Yeast - Saccharomyces
Septate
Most lichens
A cluster of asci with spores inside
Basidiomycota – “club fungi”
Produce basidiospores and
sometimes conidiospores
Sex – basidia
Asex – not so common
Long-lived dikaryotic mycelia
Rusts & smuts – primitive plant
parasites
Septate
Mushrooms, polypores, puffballs
Enzymes decompose wood
Mycorrhizas
SEM of basidia and spores
Zygomycota – “zygote fungi”
Conjugation fungi
Coenocytic
Sex - zygosporangia
Asex - common
Produce sporangiospores
and zygospores
Hyphae have no cross walls
Grow rapidly
Rhizopus, Mucor
(opportunistic, systemic
mycoses)
Mycorrhizas
Fig 31.6 Rhizopus on
strawberries
True Fungi
Chytridiomycota –
“chytrids”- Classified in
CMR as true fungi
(because of their
molecular relationships)
Simple fungi
Produce motile spores
Mostly saprobes and
parasites in aquatic
habitats
Could just as well be
Fig 31.5 Chytridium growing on
Protists
spores
True Fungi versus Slime Moulds
True fungi:
- those that are hyphal
- possess cell walls throughout most of their life cycle
- are exclusively absorptive in their nutrition.
Slime moulds:
- those that do not form hyphae
- lack cell walls during the phase that they obtain
nutrients and grow
- are capable of ingesting nutrients by phagocytosis. So
they are more common to Protista although they
produce fruiting bodies like fungi.
- The most studied of them are the cellular slime moulds
and the plasmodial slime moulds or Myxomycetes.
QUESTION
The fungus can never be classified in
Plantae or Animalia?
EXPLAIN WHY?
(Hint ! LOOK AT ITS MOBILITY &
NUTRITION)