Block C Lecture 1 - Fungal Cell Biology and Physiology

Question 1

Are most fungi uni or multicellular?

Answer 1

Multicellular
(Slide 4)

Question 2

What network do fungi form?

Answer 2

A network of hyphae
(Slide 4)

Question 3

What can hyphae that extend above the surface produce?

Answer 3

Asexual spores called condida
(Slide 4)

Question 4

What are 2 features that candida have?

Answer 4

They are often pigmented and are resistant to drying
(Slide 4)

Question 5

What do hyphae form?

Answer 5

Compact tufts called mycelia
(Slide 4)

Question 6

What are most fungal cell walls made of?

Answer 6

Chitin
(Slide 4)

Question 7

What helps plant roots obtain phosphorus?

Answer 7

Mycorrhizae
(Slide 4)

Question 8

What are fruiting bodies?

Answer 8

Macroscopic reproductive structures
(Slide 7)

Question 9

What are 2 examples of fruiting bodies?

Answer 9

Mushrooms and puffballs
(Slide 7)

Question 10

What are mycoses?

Answer 10

Any fungal infection which invades the tissue, causing disease
(Slide 7)

Question 11

What are 3 ways that fungi reproduce asexually?

Answer 11

Using fruiting bodies
Asexual production of spores
Simple cell division (using budding yeasts)
(Slide 9)

Question 12

Some fungi produce spores as a result of sexual reproduction. How can these “sexual spores” originate?

Answer 12

From the fusion of 2 haploid cells - forming a diploid cell
(Slide 9)

Question 13

What is the earliest fungal lineage thought to be?

Answer 13

Chytridiomycetes
(Slide 11)

Question 14

What are the 2 key genera of Chytridiomycetes?

Answer 14

Allomyces and Batrachochytrium
(Slide 13)

Question 15

Where are Chytridiomycetes found?

Answer 15

Moist soil and freshwater
(Slide 13)

Question 16

Chytridiomycetes can be unicellular. Other than this what other form can they take?

Answer 16

A colonial form
(Slide 13)

Question 17

What are the 3 key genera of zygomycetes and glomeromycetes?

Answer 17

Rhizopus
Encephalitozoon
Glomus
(Slide 15)

Question 18

What are zygomycetes primarily associated with?

Answer 18

Food spoilage
(Slide 15)

Question 19

What are 2 traits zygomycetes have?

Answer 19

They are all coenocytic and all form zygospores
(Slide 15)

Question 20

What does coenocytic mean?

Answer 20

That their body consists of a multinucleate continuous mass of cytoplasm not divided into individual cells by a cell wall
(Slide 15)

Question 21

What is a zygospore?

Answer 21

A specialized structure formed during sexual reproduction in some fungi. It is a thick-walled, resting spore that results from the fusion of two haploid gametangia (specialized reproductive structures) of opposite mating types
(Slide 15)

Question 22

What do all known species of glomeromycetes form?

Answer 22

Endomycorrhizae with the roots of herbaceous plants
(Slide 16)

Question 23

What are endomycorrhizae?

Answer 23

A type of mycorrhizal association formed between certain fungi and plant roots
(Slide 16)

Question 24

How do glomeromycetes reproduce?

Answer 24

Asexually only
(Slide 16)

Question 25

What are the 3 key genera of ascomycetes?

Answer 25

Saccharomyces, Candida and Aspergillus
(Slide 17)

Question 26

Where are ascomycetes fungi found?

Answer 26

In aquatic and terrestrial environments
(Slide 17)

Question 27

What do ascomycetes decompose?

Answer 27

Dead plant material
(Slide 17)

Question 28

What is the cell shape and cell division process of saccharmomyces cerevisiae?

Answer 28

Cells are spherical or oval shape and undergo cell division through budding
(Slide 17)

Question 29

What sexual reproduction process does saccharomyces cerevisiae undergo?

Answer 29

A process called mating
(Slide 17)

Question 30

What are the 2 mating types in Saccharomyces cerevisiae?

Answer 30

The 2 types are assigned “a” and “α”
(Slide 19)

Question 31

How does the mating mechanism of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae work?

Answer 31

Mating type “a” cells and “α” cells can mate with each other, forming a diploid cell then in the right conditions the diploid cell may undergo meiosis and form 4 haploid spores called a tetrad
(Slide 19)

Question 32

What is the Saccharomyces cerevisiae mating type decided by?

Answer 32

The variation of gene present at the MAT locus
(Slide 20)

Question 33

How can the mating type in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae be switched?

Answer 33

The gene present at the MAT locus is discarded with a copy of the other type of gene being switched in
(Slide 20)

Question 34

What are the 2 main genera of mushrooms and basidiomycetes?

Answer 34

Agaricus and Amanita
(Slide 21)

Question 35

What types of reproduction can mushrooms and basidiomycetes undergo?

Answer 35

Vegetative and sexual reproduction
(Slide 21)

Question 36

How do fungi achieve exponential growth?

Answer 36

Via the Spitzenkörper
(Slide 24)

Question 37

What is the Spitzenkörper?

Answer 37

A specialized organelle found in the tip region of growing fungal hyphae, playing a central role in polarized growth
(Slide 24)

Question 38

What is the function of the Spitzenkörper?

Answer 38

To orchestrate polarized growth of the hypha, directing deposition of cell wall material and extension of the plasma membrane at the tip
(Slide 24)

Question 39

How does the Spitzenkörper contribute to hyphal branching?

Answer 39

It coordinates the formation of new branches along the hypha, allowing fungi to expand their foraging territory
(Slide 24)

Question 40

What stages of fungal development does the Spitzenkörper regulate?

Answer 40

It is involved in germination, vegetative growth, and reproductive processes such as sporulation
(Slide 24)