MYCOLOGY 1 Flashcards
what was the first antibiotic isolated from fungi?
penicillin
discovered by alexander fleming
when was penicillin produced and purified?
fleming only discovered it but want able to make it
purification and production happened in the early 1940s
penicillin was used to treat infected wounds on soldiers in world war 2
what is mucormycosis?
invasive primitive mold
very aggressive
requires exogenous iron
more frequent in diabetics and iron chelation therapy
highly drug resistant
likely to get it if you are immunocompromised
don’t know how to diagnose it, only find out when it’s too late
what are the bad sides of fungi?
infections:
invasive and superficial mycoses
intoxication:
aflatoxicosis, ergot alkaloid, toxic mushrooms
toxic building syndrome
allergy:
asthma, sinusitis
what are the good sides of fungi?
pharmaceutical industry:
production of antibiotics
production of other pharmaceuticals
food industry:
mushrooms
yeast for baking, fermentation
cheeses
enzymes and chemicals (citric acid for soft drinks)
what is the main function of fungi?
the primary role is biodegradation
the role is to recycle
can decompose all organic materials and even plastics but also wood, building materials, food, us
what is the number of species of fungi?
1.5 to 12 million
still uncertain
how many species of fungi have been identified to this day and what is the discovery rate?
only 150,000 species have been identified so far
discovery rate is 1k to 2k species a year
what are the organelles inside a fungal cell?
eukaryotic, has a nucleus
has a protein secretory pathway (ER, golgi apparatus)
has mitochondria like animals
they also have vacuoles like plants, but no chloroplasts
the cytoplasmic membrane contains ergosterol
what is the structure of fungal cell walls?
based on chitin
cell walls are the exoskeletons of fungal cells
the role is structure, protection, exchange with the environment
made of mostly polysaccharides
each species creates a unique cell wall but all of them are based on chitin (a polymer)
how do fungi obtain nutrients?
they are heterotrophs, but they do not have a vasculature system, which means that they cannot absorb food and spread it throughout their body, they need to absorb food from everywhere
they puke up their stomach, digest what they need to digest and then suck it back up
what are yeasts?
unicellular organisms
1 nucleus
what are molds?
filamentous tubular structures containing multiple nuclei
how do yeasts reproduce?
reproduce by budding and fission
what are hyphae/pseudohyphae?
environmental signals can make yeast initiate a transition to hyphae or pseudohyphae
this is the invasive form
