fungi (kingdom)

Kingdom fungi

Cell walls made from chitin
Growth through hyphae (mostly)
Heterotroph – absorb nutrients
No chlorophyl
Reproduction through spores

Origin of fungi

Single-celled flagellated ancestor
Poor early fossil record!
Choanoflagellates
Sister group to animals
Multicellularity evolved separately in fungi and animals!
Aquatic

prototaxites

giant extinct fungus

largest known living organism

Armillaria

2,400 years old

Fungal structure

Hyphae of septate fungi are divided into cells
Hyphae of coenocytic fungi lack cross walls
Parasitic fungi can have specialised structures called haustoria
Cells can be dikaryotic

Fungal life cycle

Haploid, of varying size and shape
Produced asexually (default) or sexually (contingency)
Dispersed by wind or water
Germinate in moist places with appropriate substrate

Fungi phylums

Chytridiomycota

Zygomycota

Glomeromycota

Ascomycota

Basidiomycota

Chytridiomycota

Flagella retained in zoospores
Single-celled or coenocytic
~1000 species described
Saprophytic or parasitic
Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, B. salamandrivorans
Global extinction waive of amphibians

Zygomycota

Dikaryotic zygosporangia
Soil or decaying material
Hyphae coenocytic
Septae in reproductive hyphae
~1000 species described
Fastest acceleration by an organism: 20,000G (typical bullet accelarates at less than 10,000G)

Glomeromycota

~250 species described
Obligatory symbiotic relationship
with plants
Arbuscular mycorrhizae
Plant benefits from getting soil
minerals
Fungus benefits from getting
carbohydrates from the plant

Ascomycota

65000 species described
‘sac fungi’
Ascospores (usually 8) in asci
Septate hyphae
Asexual reproduction via conidia

Basidiomycota

30000 species described
‘club fungi’
Basidiospores (usually 4) on top
of basidium
Septate hyphae

asexual production much rarer

yeasts

Not a taxonomic group, but a growth form
Single-celled; evolved from multicellular ancestor
Reproduction typically by ‘budding’
Can also reproduce sexually, using spores
Placed in Ascomycota and Basidiomycota

Microsporidia

Highly specialised fungi – not part of five phyla
Intracellular parasites of wide range of animals
Unique spores

Lichens

Symbiosis between green algae (or cyanobacteria) and fungus
Algae/bacteria provide nutrients; fungus provides environment
Lichen reproduction through fragments and soredia
Has evolved multiple times