It is a single-celled or multicellular organism

without chlorophyll that reproduces by spores

and lives by absorbing nutrients from organic
matter. Fungi include mildews, molds,
mushrooms, rusts, smuts, and yeasts.


They were once classified as plants because of
their appearance. The mushroom, for instance,
looks like a small plant. However, the mushroom
and all the other fungi lack chlorophyll. Thus,
they cannot produce their own food, unlike most
plants.
They also lack the specialized tissues and organs
that plant possess.

Mycology study of fungi
Fungi singular
Fungus plural
In general, the life cycle involves the fusion of
hyphae from two individuals, forming a
mycelium that contains haploid nuclie of both
individuals.
The fusion of hyphae is called plasmogamy.
The fused hyphae containing haploid nuclei from
two individuals is heterokaryotic.
In some cases, plasmogamy results in cells with
one nucleus from each individual. This condition
is called dikaryotic.
Eventually, two nuclei that originated from
different individuals fuse to form a diploid
zygote. Meiosis then produces either four
haploid nuclei or four haploid cells.

The diagram below shows the generalized life
cycle of fungi.
Spores are reproductive cells that are dispersed by wind. They
are capable of germinating and producing a new
mycelium.
Fungi are eukaryotic
they have a nuclei & mitochondria
Fungi are heterotrophs
they depend on other organisms for food
Major decomposers
They are multicellular



They cannot move on their own
Body is made of Long filaments of hyphae
which form a mycelium
Reproduce sexually and asexually
Asexually by spores
Sexually by mating of hyphae filaments
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 colour
1. Fungi lack chlorophyll
2. Fungi are not photosynthetic
a. Cannot produce their own food
b. Most are saprophytes
c. Some are parasites


Saprophyte-feeds on
dead/decaying
organisms
3. they never reproduce by seeds
4. Most fungi have cell walls made of
chitin..except molds

Plant cell walls are made of what?
cellulose
molds have cell walls made of celluloselike plants

Fungi feed by absorbing nutrients from the
organic material that they live in.
They digest their food before they absorb it by
secreting acids and hydrolytic enzymes.


Different fungi have evolved to live on various
types of organic matter, some live on plants
eg.Phytopthora infestans - the potato blight
fungus, as seen here;
Some live on animals
eg.the athlete's foot fungus
and some live on insects
eg.Cordyceps australis.

Filaments of fungi are
called hyphae.
The cell walls contain
chitin.
The MYCELIUM is a mat
of hyphae visible to the
unaided eye ( bread
mold)
Some hyphae may
divided by cross sections
called septa

Septated
Unseptated - coenocytic
network of thin thread-like structures that form
the body of a fungus
hyphae contain cytoplasm
hyphae grow and branch until they cover and
digest the food source (upon which the fungi is
growing)
hypha - singular
hyphae - plural

a mass of hyphae
The mycelium is usually hidden in the soil, in
wood, or another food source
A mycelium may fill a single ant, or cover many
acres
mycelia - plural

single hypha
Mass of hyphae (mycelium)
Germ tube
(Growing Spore)
(initial hypha)
What are we looking at when we see a
fungus-among-us?
The living body of
the fungus is a
mycelium
The part of the fungus
that we see is only the
fruit of the organism
Fruiting bodies
(mushrooms
Sporangium Fungi/Mold
Club Fungi
Sac Fungi
Imperfect Fungi
Sporangium fungi reproduces by spores in the
sporangia
Are primarily decomposers
Sporangia- structures found on the tips of
hyphae that make spores
Example: Bread Mold
Bread mold produces spores
in sporangia that stick up
above the bread.

Rhizoids- hyphae of bread
mold that digest bread for
ingestion
have a club-shaped part which produces the
spores
Example: Mushrooms, puffballs, bracket or shelf
fungi, toadstools, rusts, and smuts.
They bear spores in a club-shaped spore case
called basidium.



Bracket Fungi
Puff Balls
Mushrooms
Jelly Fungi
Rust infecting
wheat leaves
Rust infecting a
Leaf
Whitrot Smut
digesting old
wood
produce spores in sac-like structures
The spores of sac fungi are produced in small
cup-shaped sacs calles asci, (sing., ascus).
Example: yeasts, cup fungi, powdery mildews, &
lichens
Lichens - a fungus and an organism with
chlorophyll that live together




Yeast
Cup Fungi
Powdery Mildews
Lichen
cause most fungal diseases in humans
Example: ringworm, athletes foot, thrush
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


The economically important imperfect fungi are
Penicillium and Aspergillus.

NOTE: sporangium/mold, sac, and club fungi that
can ONLY reproduce asexually

Ringworm
Athletes Foot
Thrush
Most fungi reproduce both sexually and
asexually.
Asexual reproduction production of various
types of spores
Sexual reproduction
plus and minus mating types
Hyphae of different mating types fuse and give rise to
a specialized structure that produces spores ( diploid)
Most fungi are haploid throughout most of their life
cycle

the structure of the fungi that you can see, is the
part that carries out reproduction
most fungi reproduce by using spores
fungi spores are microscopic
Example: Mushrooms & puffballs release large
clouds of spores. Each cloud contains millions of
spores

Fungi can also reproduce from pieces of hyphae.
Wind and water can carry pieces of hyphae to
new places.
If enough moisture and food is present, the
spores/hyphae can grow into new fungi

1. Mold reproduce asexually & sexually
2. Sac fungi reproduce asexually & sexually


3. Club fungi reproduce asexually & sexually





4. Imperfect can only reproduce asexually

Recycling
Decomposers
Bread down organic materials foos scraps, dead plants
and animals and return them to the soil where they
are reabsorbed by plants
Mycorrhizae
Some fungi form associations with plant roots,
forming fungus roots or mycorrhizzae. They expand
the surface area of roots for absorption of water and
minerals.


Food
Fungi is widely used in the production of many foods
and drinks.
Yeast production of bread, beer, wine, cheese and
soy sauce
Aspergillus production of soy sauce and soy paste
Mushrooms like taingang daga and morels are fungi
that have become delicacy in many parts of the world

Medicines
Penicillium chrysogenum source of the very useful
antibiotic, penicillin
Vidarabine - first antiviral drug used to treat
encephalitis or the inflammation of the brain and
spinal cord, was produced from a species of fungi
Biological control
Controlling insect pests of crops through spraying of
spores to the insects
Molds common cause of food spoilage and the
rotting of many household items, such as
furniture, leather seats, shoes, bags, and clothes
Candida albicans certain species of yeast that
causes vaginal yeast infection called candidiasis.
Fungal infection like:
Athletes foot itchy, painful skin infection of the foot
Ringworm fungal infection of the skin, scalp and nails
Mycotoxins a mushroom that produces
poisonous substances. Extremely dangerous
when ingested and it may cause hallucinations
then finally, death.
Toadstools poisonous
Mushrooms nonpoisonous
Powdery mildews destructive to fruit trees as
well as grain crops
Rust common pathogens to wheat
Corn smuts common problem to farmers
because it damage corn crops and decrease the
yield