Mycology and Fungal Growth

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering the nutritional needs, environmental requirements, morphological classifications, and reproductive mechanisms (sporulation) of fungi.

Fungal Nutrition Requirements

Fungi require a source of carbon (e.g., sugars), nitrogen (e.g., peptone), inorganic compounds (e.g., ammonium nitrate), and inorganic nutrients (e.g., potassium and magnesium).

Water Requirement

An absolute requirement for fungal growth, although fungi are more tolerant of its absence than other microorganisms; in drought, growth ceases but spores may be produced.

Degradative Enzymes

Enzymes such as cellulases, proteases, and nucleases secreted by fungi to break down organic waste into soluble nutrients for transport across cell membranes.

Mesophilic

Fungi that can grow at temperatures between $10$ and $40\,^{\circ}C$ with an optimum temperature of $25-30\,^{\circ}C$.

Thermophilic (Thermotolerant)

Fungi that grow at temperatures between $20$ and $60\,^{\circ}C$ with an optimum temperature of $40\,^{\circ}C$.

Psychrophilic

Fungi that grow at low temperatures reaching $-20\,^{\circ}C$, such as moulds that grow on frozen meat (e.g., Cladosporium).

Phototropism in Hyphae

A growth response where sunlight often inhibits vegetative processes causing hyphae to grow away from light, while aerial hyphae and spores grow towards the light source.

Yeasts

Unicellular fungi that are round, oval, or elongated and remain in yeast form at both room and body temperature.

Blastoconidia

The term used for buds that develop, enlarge, and eventually separate from the parent cell during asexual reproduction in yeasts.

Hyphae

Tubular thread-like structures that form when spores germinate; they are the basic components of all molds.

Mycelia

Masses made up of many long strands of branching hyphae, giving molds a fuzzy or woolly appearance.

Aerial Mycelia

Structures that extend above the surface of a colony, responsible for the fuzzy appearance and supporting reproductive structures that produce conidia.

Vegetative Mycelia

Structures that extend downward into the growth medium to absorb nutrients.

Thermally Dimorphic

Fungi that exist as molds in the environment at ambient temperature and switch to a yeast form in human tissues at body temperature.

Imperfect Fungi

Fungi that form asexual spores only.

Perfect Fungi

Fungi that form sexual spores.

Conidiogenous Cells

Specialized fruiting structures responsible for asexual reproduction by forming conidia.

Phialides

Vaselike conidiogenous cells that produce phialoconidia.

Annellides

Ringed conidiogenous structures that produce annelloconidia.

Teleomorph

A fungus that reproduces sexually; the process involves the fusion of two haploid nuclei to form a transient diploid, followed by meiosis.

Anamorph

The asexual form of a fungus that can also reproduce sexually.

Synanamorphs

The term used when more than one anamorph is present for the same teleomorph.

Zygospores

Single large sexual spores characterized by thick walls.

Ascospores

Sexual spores formed within a sac-like structure called an ascus.

Basidiospores

Sexual spores formed externally on the tip of a pedestal called a basidium.

Arthrospores

Asexual spores (conidia) formed by the fragmentation of the ends of hyphae; they are the mode of transmission for Coccidioides immitis.

Chlamydospores

Rounded, thick-walled, resistant asexual spores; terminal ones are characteristic of Candida albicans.

Blastospores

Asexual spores formed by the budding process in yeasts; multiple buds can form pseudohyphae in species like Candida albicans.

Sporangiospores

Asexual spores formed within a sac (sporangium) on a stalk by molds such as Rhizopus and Mucor.