Download KINGDOM FUNGI

KINGDOM FUNGI:
Yeasts and warm Fuzzies
 Eukaryotic
 Most
terrestrial
 Cell wall composed of chitin
(differs from plants)
 Most multicellular
Five Phyla in total but three
major :
1. Zygomycetes:
moulds
2. Basidomycetes:
mushrooms
3. Ascomycetes:
yeasts
General Structure
Bodies composed of mesh-like network
of filaments called mycelium
 Filaments are known as hyphae (pl) or
hypa (s)
 Can have multiple nuclei per “cell”
 Separated into cell-like
compartments by septa

Nutrition
heterotrophic (saprobes)
 digest organic matter by excreting
enzymes into the environment
 and then absorb the simple
products
 store carbohydrates as glycogen
 acidic conditions (pH 5 and 6)
 some are parasitic

Reproduction - Asexual

hypha undergoes
fragmentation,
separates and
develops new
hypha and
mycelium

spores form along
the hypha, break
free and
germinate

Yeast reproduce by budding
Sexual



Hypha fuse to form a cell with two
nuclei (dikaryotic)
Each nuclei is haploid (n)
two cells fuse  diploid cell (2n) then
undergoes meiosis haploid spores,
which then germinate
Symbiotic Relationships

Mycorrhizae  fungi and plant roots:
Plant – provide sugars
Fungi – increase absorption of
nutrients to plant
Lichen
 green algae or cyanobacteria (provide sugars)
and fungi (provide structural support, CO2 and
H2O)
 soil, rocks, trees
 plant succession; establish on rocks and
barren areas, help make basic soil
material
 air quality monitors – indicate
pollutants
Importance


Decomposers of organic matter
Liberate nutrients and making available
to insects, worms, bacteria

“contamination
helpful”
 blue cheese

penicillium species
 antibiotics