Professional Documents
Culture Documents
2013
.a relative out west that occupies some 2,384 acres (965 hectares) of soil in Oregon's Blue Mountains. Put another way, this humongous fungus would encompass 1,665 football fields, or nearly four square miles (10 square kilometers) of turf. HIDDEN GIANT: A small outcropping of honey mushrooms on the surface hide the largest known organism on Earth, a fungus infesting the woods of eastern Oregon. Image: USDA FOREST SERVICE, PACIFIC NORTHWEST RESEARCH STATION
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=strange-but-true-largest-organism-is-fungus
a vegetative body in which a fungus and one or more photosynthetic organisms live together in mutual dependency (mutualism) products and remains enrich nutrient-poor soil
Metabolic
are sensitive to pollution and are on the decline as useful indicators of deteriorating environmental conditions
Act
p.391
Lichen
Combination
Organisms
Relationship
are very sensitive to deteriorating environmental conditions toxins but cannot get rid of them
Absorb Can
Mycorrhiza
Fungus-root Mutualism
root Fungus gets sugars from plant Plant gets minerals from fungus Many plants do not grow well without mycorrhizae
Photo Micrograph
Ectomycorrhizas. This group of mycorrhiza occurs mainly on roots of woody plants and only occasionally on herbaceous and graminaceous perennial plants. Some temperate tree species like beech, oak, spruce and pine cannot survive without ectomycorrhiza http://soil-environment.blogspot.com /2010/08/role-of-mycorrhiza -in-mineral-nutrition.html
Truffles
Truffle Hunting in Tuscany http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOJEv4JblHw
http://slowfoodwaltz.blogspot.com/2009/01/ wonderful-world-of-truffles-why-truffle.html **In Italy, a truffle dog is taught to retrieve a ball, then Gorgonzola cheese. Then the cheese is hidden and the dog has to sniff it out. It then get's rewarded for doing so. Finally, a small truffle is substituted for the cheese- you get the picture.
Fungi as Decomposers
Break
down organic compounds in their surroundings out extracellular digestion and absorption benefit because some carbon and nutrients are released
Carry
Plants
A Variety of Roles
Pathogens
Spoilers Used
of food supplies
to manufacture
Antibiotics Cheeses
carry out photosynthesis Must acquire organic molecules from the environment Most are saprobes
Get nutrients from nonliving organic matter Some are parasites Extract nutrients from a living host
The Mycelium
Most
The Mycelium
p.392
Extracellular Digestion
Mycelium Tips
Enzymes
Asexual Spores In
a new mycelium
Fungal Classification
Fungi
known from 900 mya 56,000 known species Three major lineages:
Imperfect
classified
Fungal Classification
zygomycetes sac fungi club fungi
chytrids microsporidians
FUNGI
amoeboid ancestors
Fungal Classification
Fungal Classification
Fungal Spores
Made
up of one or a few cells Can resist dehydration Remain dormant until environmental conditions favor germination Produced asexually or sexually Fungal classification is based on type of sexual spores
Fungal Spores
chytrid fungus called Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) disrupt fluid and electrolyte
balance in wild frogs, the scientists say, severely depleting the frogs' sodium and potassium levels and causing cardiac arrest and death. http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=123871
skin surface
Fungal Spores
fungi make basidiospores on the surface of a club-shaped cell (basidium) fungi produce ascospores inside a parent cell called an ascus hyphae fuse to produce a thick-walled zygospore
Sac
Zygomycete
Imperfect Fungi
Species
have never been observed to form sexual spores do make asexual spores
Many
Predatory
Imperfect Fungi
roundworm part of a hypha that formed a nooselike ring around the worm
stolinifer can reproduce sexually or asexually reproduction occurs, then hyphae of mating strains meet point of contact, hyphae form gametangia
Sexual
At
nuclear fusion
gametangia fusing
spores (n)
rhizoids
cells of two mating strains meet fuses to form dikaryotic structure (basidiocarp) forms
Cytoplasm
mycelium
Reproductive
Spore-bearing structures form on basidiocarp Nuclei fuse to produce a zygote Zygote undergoes meiosis to produce haploid spores Spores give rise to haploid mycelia
dikaryotic (n + n) mycelium
cytoplasmic fusion
Fig. 24-7, p. 407
diverse group (30,000 species) Produce asexual spores called conidia Produce sexual ascospores in sac-shaped cells call asci Multicelled species form reproductive structures called ascocarps that enclose the asci
diploid (2n) hyphal cell nuclear fusion Diploid Stage Haploid Stage meiosis in ascus
cytoplasmic fusion
asexual spores
hyphae of mating strain A hyphae of mating strain a asexual spores
Morel
Penicillium
Penicillium is a genus of ascomycetous fungi of major importance in the natural environment as well as food and drug production. Members of the genus produce penicillin, a molecule that is used as an antibiotic, which kills or stops the growth of certain kinds of bacteria inside the body. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penicillium
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
True yeast Fermentation Sugar Carbon dioxide and Ethanol Used as a model organism in the study of cell biology
Fungal Foes
Most
fungi are vital decomposers and plant symbionts proportion are plant pathogens
Small Tiny
Plant Pathogens
Chestnut blight
Ascomycetes cause Histoplasmosis Valley fever Candida (yeast) infections Ringworm Athletes foot Ergotism Eating some basidiomycetes can be fatal
Histoplasmosis
Respiratory
disease Caused by inhalation of spores of Ajellomyces capsulatus Spores are found in soil, especially where there are bird or bat droppings Can be fatal in people with weakened immune systems
Histoplasmosis is a fungal infection caused by inhaling dust from spore-infected bird droppings. The acute form is treated with antifungal medication.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002073/figure/A001082.B17222/?report=objectonly
Claviceps purpurea
Ascomycete Produces
alkaloids
Fungal
Photobiont
algae
Fungus
Lichen
Lichen
Lichen
outer layer of fungal cells photosynthetic species inner layer of loosely woven hyphae outer layer of fungal cells
Mycorrhizae
Mutualistic
Ectomycorrhizae Hyphae form net around roots Common in temperate forests Endomycorrhizae Fungus actually enters root cell Form in 80% of vascular plants Zygomyetes are the fungal partners
Mycorrhizae
Mycorrhizae
small, young tree root
hyphal strands
Mycorrhizae
Fungi in Decline?
Numbers
declining Decline correlates with rising air pollution If the fungal symbionts of trees and other plants are killed, ecosystems will be disrupted
Fungal Shotgun
Pilobolus, known the Fungal Shotgun, is a rapidly growing fungus, which inhabits dung. It can fully develop within a week of spore germination. It is a member of the lower fungi and produces a sac-like structure called a sporangium, which contains the spores. This particular sporangium has a lens like vesicle with a light sensitive retina at its base. The fungus is positively phototropic causing the sporangium to be aimed towards any light source. Pressure builds up inside the structure, which supports the sporangium until it is more than 100 pounds per square inch. This causes the vesicle to explode propelling the sporangial head in excess of 2 meters. There is mucilaginous substance on the sporangium, which allows it to stick to whatever it lands on.
Pilobolus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4gK5Kuy1bE
The Fastest Living Thing on Earth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STK7AZ_Zs_E