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FUNGUS
Fungus – Structure and Function
• Fungus have body structures and modes of
reproduction unlike other eukaryotic
organisms
Fungus – Structure and Function
• Fungus have body structures and modes of
reproduction unlike other eukaryotic
organisms
• The bodies of most fungi are made of
structures called Hyphae
Fungus – Structure and Function
• Fungus have body structures and modes of
reproduction unlike other eukaryotic
organisms
• The bodies of most fungi are made of
structures called Hyphae
• Hyphae are tiny threads of cytoplasm
surrounded by a plasma membrane and
encased in a cell wall made of chitin
Fungus – Structure and Function
The hyphae of a single fungus typically branch as
they grow forming a woven mat called a
mycelium
Fungus – Structure and Function
The hyphae of a single fungus typically branch as
they grow forming a woven mat called a
mycelium
The mycelium serves as a feeding structure for
the fungus
Fungus – Structure and Function
The hyphae of a single fungus typically branch as
they grow forming a woven mat called a
mycelium
The mycelium serves as a feeding structure for
the fungus
The mycelium makes up for the fungi’s lack of
mobility by rapidly growing through the food
source
Fungus – Structure and Function
• Mycelium may be huge. One mycelium in
Oregon covers over 9 square kilometers (1600
football fields) and is estimated to be over
2400 years old making it the Earth’s oldest and
largest living organism
Fungus – Structure and Function
• The mycelium is efficient at absorptive
nutrition. This means that the fungus digests
food outside of its body and then draws the
nutrients in
Fungus – Structure and Function
Fungus – Structure and Function
Fungus - Diversity
• There are more than 100,000 known species of
fungus
• All play a role as decomposers
• Fungus recycle carbon and nitrogen by breaking
down organic matter
• Some species of fungus are parasites, though
most live on dead material
• Parasitic fungi cause more than 80% of all plant
diseases and are therefore important from an
economic sense
Reproduction in Fungi
• Fungi reproduce by releasing large numbers of
reproductive spores
Reproduction in Fungi
• Fungi reproduce by releasing large numbers of
reproductive spores
• Spores are haploid single cells with thick cell
walls that serve to disperse the fungi
Reproduction in Fungi
• Fungi reproduce by releasing large numbers of
reproductive spores
• Spores are haploid single cells with thick cell
walls that serve to disperse the fungi
• Most fungi produce spores asexually by
mitosis at the tips of specialized hyphae
Reproduction in Fungi
• Fungi reproduce by releasing large numbers of
reproductive spores
• Spores are haploid single cells with thick cell
walls that serve to disperse the fungi
• Most fungi produce spores asexually by
mitosis at the tips of specialized hyphae
• Some fungi reproduce sexually where haploid
hyphae from different mycelium fuse together
to mix their genetic material into diploid cells
Fungus – Structure and Function
• Some fungus such as puffballs can produce as
many as a trillion spores. Thay travel
tremendous distances and have been found as
far as 200km above the Earth’s surface
Symbiotic Fungi
• Lichens represent a symbiotic relationship
between algae (protist) and a fungus
• Mycorrhizae – Are symbiotic relationships
between fungal hyphae and plant roots. The
fungus absorbs water and minerals from the
soil and provides it to the plant, in turn the
sugars produced by the plant nourish the
fungus – almost all plants have mycorrhizae
Yeasts and Mold
• Yeast is a single-celled fungus
Yeasts and Mold
• Yeast is a single-celled fungus
• Yeast reproduce asexually by budding
Yeasts and Mold
• Yeast is a single-celled fungus
• Yeast reproduce asexually by budding
• Yeast with no known sexual stage are called
imperfect fungi
Yeasts and Mold
• Yeast is a single-celled fungus
• Yeast reproduce asexually by budding
• Yeast with no known sexual stage are called
imperfect fungi
• Brewer’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) has
been used for thousands of years to raise
bread and ferment alcoholic beverages
Yeasts and Mold
• Any fungus that grows rapidly across a surface
is generally referred to as mold
Yeasts and Mold
• Any fungus that grows rapidly across a surface
is generally referred to as mold
• Penicillium is a very common mold that often
grows on fruit. One species of Penicillium is
the source of the antibiotic Penicillin
Yeasts and Mold
• Any fungus that grows rapidly across a surface
is generally referred to as mold
• Penicillium is a very common mold that often
grows on fruit. One species of Penicillium is
the source of the antibiotic Penicillin
• The fungus keeps bacteria from growing to
close to it and competing for food
Yeasts and Mold
• Penicillinwas discovered in 1928 by Sir
Alexander Fleming though its importance was
not truly realized until the early 1940’s. It was
the first antibiotic and is still among the most
widely prescribed of all antibiotics available