Kingdom Fungi

• first fossil evidence about 600 my ago; may have been on land before plants

• usually small• fungi are saprophytic or

parasitic• if saprophytic, they

secrete enzymes that break down organic material and absorb nutrients from that

• If parasitic, means lives off hosts

Kingdom Fungi

• most fungi are multicellular and filamentous

• some are unicellular—yeast

• most are non-harmful, a few are deadly

• fungal cells use a glucose polymer, chitin, as their main cell wall component

• the body of a multicellular fungus is a mycelium, composed of filaments called hyphae

Kingdom Fungi

• fungi are non-motile (usually)

• have no flagella or cilia in any part of their life cycle (usually)

• they have to grow towards a food source; sometimes up to a kilometer (6/10ths of a miles) per day growth

What groups make up the Fungi?

• Slime molds (both cellular and acellular) are now split off from rest of fungi

• Bread molds

• Water molds

• Sac fungi

• True mushrooms

From 2012

Sac fungi

Mushrooms

Water molds

Sac fungi

Mushrooms

Water molds

sexual reproduction involves:1. the meiosis of a

temporarily diploid cell to produce haploid spores

2. wind-dispersed to new areas

3. spores grow directly back into hyphae

asexual reproduction occurs by budding in yeast, or by fragmentation of a mycelium

1. Water molds • Rusts, shower

mildews, fish fungi, potato blight

• Responsible for 2 historic events: 1. Irish potato famine—1845-1851

2. French vineyard disaster—1870s

• 2. Bread molds

• Produces spores from stalked structures

• Some use water pressure to blast their spores some 30 feet away at 25 miles per hour

  3. Sac fungi

• Morels, truffles, ergot, chestnut blight, Dutch elm disease, yeasts

• “sac” name comes from spore-holding cell, holds 8 spores

• Life cycle is haploid cells growing in filaments, then some cells fuse (n + n) but don’t merge nuclei until much later

4. Club fungi

Mushrooms, shelf fungi, puffballs

“Club” is name for part of mycelium that produces spores

Clubs found on gills

Many are very toxic and fatal the first time you try one

http://imgkid.com/fungi-mushroom-diagram.shtml

5. Imperfect fungi

Fungi with no known sexual stages

A 'junkyard' group

Example: nematode-trappers

Fungi can parasitize humans:

Yeast infections

Tinea pedis (athlete's foot) affects the feet

Tinea unguium affects the fingernails and toenails

Tinea corporis affects the arms, legs, and trunk

Tinea cruris (jock itch) affects the groin area

Tinea manuum affects the hands and palm area

Tinea capitis affects the scalp

Tinea barbae affects facial hair

Tinea faciei (face fungus) affects the face

Fungus + Algae = Lichen

Some fungi can form a living association with algae = symbiosis

No official name for these, since they consists of two different organisms living together

3 types: crustose, foliose, and fruticose

Economic aspects of fungi

• Allow many plant seeds to germinate• We use their enzymes in biotechnology• Sources of antibiotics• Fungi produce cheeses• Fungi produce alcohols

Yeasts: the source of ethanol

• Alcohol=ethanol (not methanol; methanol is poisonous)

• 2 types: fermented & distilled• Alcohol derived from Arabic al kuhul because

they invented distillation process• Proof = double the % of ethanol:

– 100 proof = 50% ethanol– 190 proof = 95% ethanol

Fermented vs. Distilled• Fermented: beers, wines• Distilled: uses fermented

solutions & steam to concentrate % ethanol

• Fermented uses fungus Saccharomyces to turn glucose into ethanol as a byproduct

• ~50% of sugars get made into ethanol

Fermented: Beer• Beers start as fermented

grains• Usually barley, rye, or

wheat (sometimes corn)• Malting=sprouting grain

used• Hops (marijuana family)

used to de-bitter beer• Beers (by law) usually 3.5%-

8%

Fermented: Wine

• Wines start as fruits (grapes usually), not seeds• Grape wine usually red or white; white wine has

skins removed; red keeps skins• Usually 4-8% ethanol

Other fermented:• Sake—rice beer, not wine• Pulque—agave-based (yucca

relative)• Chicha—corn-based

Distillation Process• Ethanol boils at 83C,

water at 100C• As ethanol

evaporates, leaves water behind

• Fumes are concentrated

Distilled: Whiskeys• 3 types: scotch, bourbon,

rye• Scotch: malted barley• Bourbon: malted corn

(only American whiskey)• Rye: malted rye

Distilled: Vodka• Potatoes used as starch source• Usually 100-200 proof (50-100%)• Can almost run car on high proof

vodka• Tasteless, odorless

Distilled: Rum

• Uses sugar cane sap as sugar source

Distilled: Gin

• Flavored with juniper cones (‘berries’)

• Gin & tonic favorite drink of British because in India, gin covered the bitter taste of quinine (anti-malarial drug)

Distilled: Tequila

• Made from sap of yucca-relative

Brandy/Liqueurs

•A fortified wine

•Wine+ethanol

•Usually based on non-grape wine; ex. Blackberry, elderberry

1. slime molds • Two groups, cellular and

mostly acellular• Body is mass of nuclei

called plasmodium • Can dry up into form

called sclerotium, then rehydrate and be fine

• Can also form spore-producing stalks

• Spores released, then grow into amoeboid-type forms

• These forms release chemical attractant and form diploid plasmodium