Fungi & Ubiquity Flashcards
Saprophytes (saprobes)
organism that lives off decomposing organic matter
Mycelium Hyphae (hypha)
collective filaments of fungi (hyphae)
Dimorphic fungi
have both mold & yeast life-cycle stages
Ubiquitous
organism that could be found just about anywhere, such as bacteria
Host - biotic (alive)
organism which smaller organisms live, feed, and reproduce
Reservoir - biotic or abiotic
natural habitat or host of pathogen; serves as potential source of infection; may be non-living (soil, water) or living (human or other organism)
Mutualism
both organisms benefit
Commensalism
one benefits and the other is unaffected
Parasitism
one benefits and the other is negatively affected
Opportunistic pathogens
infectious agents (usually weakly pathogenic) which can cause disease in an immunocompromised host
organisms may also infect a site not normally inhabited by the pathogen, thus causing disease
Kingdom Fungi
non-motile eukaryotes with a cell wall composed of polysaccharide chtitin
Kingdom fungi are…
absorptive heterotrophs which secrete exoenzymes into environment & then absorb digested nutrients
Kingdom fungi are mostly
harmless saprophytes (saprobes) that decompose dead organic matter
Some fungi are
parasites of plants, animals, or humans
How are fungi divided?
informally based on overall appearance into yeasts & molds
Unicellular Yeasts
round or oval shape
sexual reproduction or asexual (most common mode of vegetative) reproduction by budding
Candida albicans & Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Unicellular Yeasts
round or oval shape
sexual reproduction or asexual (most common mode of vegetative) reproduction by budding
Candida albicans
part of normal respiratory, gastrointestinal, & female urogenital tract floras
can cause thrush (oral), vulvovaginitis, and cutaneous candidiasis
Most susceptible to Candida albicans
diabetics, immunodeficient, catheterized, or antimicrobial rx pts
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
used in production of bread, wine, & beer
Filamentous Molds
form hyphae (collectively form mycelium)
sexual and asexual
Aspergillus niger, Pencillium notatum, & Rhizopus stolonifer
Aspergillus niger
causes fungal balls in lungs called pulmonary aspergillosis
Penicillium notatum
source of antibiotic penicillin
Rhizopus stolonifer
bread mold
Dimporphic fungi have
both mold & yeast life-cycle stages
Types of asexual spores
Sporangiospores
Conidospores
Types of conidospores
arthrospores, blastospores, & chlamydospores
Types of sexual spores
Ascospores, basidiospores, & zygospores
Identify fungi
Yeasts
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Candida albicans
Identify fungi
Mold
Aspergillus niger
Identify fungi
Mold
Penicillium notatum
