Fungi Flashcards
What metabolism does fungi have and why?
They have absorptive metabolism because they are chemoorganoheterotrophs.
Fungi are saprophytes, what does this mean?
Saprophytes absorb nutrient from dead organic material by releasing degradative enzymes.
How do fungi reproduce?
sexually and asexually
What is mycology?
Study of fungi
What are mycologists?
Scientists who study fungi
What is mycotoxicology?
Study of fungal toxins and their effects
What is mycoses?
disease caused by fungi
What are the major fungal groups?
- Chytridiomycota
- Zygomycota
- Glomeromycota
- Ascomycota
- Basidiomycota
- Microsporidia
How does fungi distribute itself?
Fungi is primarily terrestrial but many are pathogenic in plants or animals. Some fungi form associations.
Why is fungi important?
Fungi degrade complex organic material in the environment to simple organic compounds and inorganic molecules
What are the industrial importances of fungi?
Fermentatio in food and alcohol.
Organic acids, certain drugs, antibiotics and immunosuppresive agents.
What are single celled microscopic fungi called?
Yeasts
What is the thallus and what does it consist of?
It is the body/ vegetative structure of a fungus and consists of long, branched hyphae filaments tangled into a mycelium mass.
How do fungi reproduce asexually?
Fungi can reproduce asexually by fragmentation, budding, or producing spores.
How do fungi reproduce sexually?
Two compatable nuclei are fused with either homothallic mycelium where the sexually compatible gametes are formed on the same mycelium. Or with heterothallic mycellium where compatible mycelia outcross
Describe chytridiomycota
A simple free living or parasytic fungi. It is saprophytic.
What spores do chytridiomycota form?
They produce a zoospore with single, posterior, whiplash flagellum. This is the most primitive form of spore dispersal.
What are chytridiomycota known to degrade?
Cellulose and keratin
Describe zygomycota
Filamentous and non septate fungi.
What spores do zygomycota form?
Form resistant spherical spores called zygosporangia
How do zygomycota reproduce asexually?
In asexual reproduction the aerial hypha produces a sporangium. Sporangium bursts to release spores. The spores germinate to produce hyphae. The vegetative mycellum grows.
How do zygomycota reproduce sexually?
Gamete forms at tip of hypha. After plasmogamy the zygospore forms. Karyogamy and meiosis takes place and zygote produces a sporanglium where spores are released from. Spore germinates to produce hypha.
What is the importance of the symbiotic relationship between rhizopus and burkholderia?
Used to produce tempeh from soybeans and used with soybeans to make sufu curd
What do glomeromycota fungi do?
Form intracellular associations within roots of almost all herbaceous plants and tropical trees. This is a mutualistic relationship
What spores do ascomycota form?
Form ascospores
Where are ascomycota fungi important?
In freshwater, marine and terrestrial habitats
What is the basic structure of a ascomycota?
Hypha, (bottom) conidophore (middle)
Conidia (top)
How do ascomycota reproduce?
Asexual reproduction takes place in the conidia.
Sexual reproduction consists fo acus formation with ascospores. Opposite mating types form zygote and ascospores forcefully released from ascocarp, germinate.
What are basidiomycota?
These are mushroom fungi that are largely filamentous and composed of hyphae.
How do basidiomycota fungi reproduce?
Sexually via the formation of specialized club shaped end cells called basidia
What are microsporidia?
Obligate intracellular fungal parasites that infect insects and humans
What are the comparisons between microsporidia and ‘classic fungi’?
Both contain chitin, trehalose and mitosomes. But microspordia don’t have mitochondria, peroxisomes and centrioles.
What spores do microsporidia produce?
Spores capable of surviving outside the host.
What can microspordia pathogenesis cause?
diarrhea and pneumonia. Is very dangerous for HIV/AIDS patients
