BIO LAB 3: Fungi Vocabulary

Opisthokonta

A supergroup that gave rise to the kingdoms Animalia and Fungi.

Relationship Between Animals and Fungi

Animals and fungi share genetic similarities and heterotrophic feeding behavior, connecting them through shared ancestry.

How Animals Obtain Nutrients

Animals typically digest food within an internalized chamber, such as a stomach.

How Fungi Obtain Nutrients

Fungi release digestive enzymes into their environment and then absorb the nutrients.

Heterotroph

An organism that obtains nutrients and energy from other organisms or organic material rather than producing its own food.

Saprotrophic

A feeding method in which an organism releases digestive enzymes into the environment and absorbs nutrients from organic material.

Parasitic Fungus

A fungus that obtains nutrients from another organism while harming that organism.

Chitin

A polysaccharide that makes up the cell walls of fungi.

Fungal Cell Wall

A protective outer structure made primarily of chitin.

Chytridiomycota

Early aquatic fungi, also called chytrids, that are flagellated and can decompose material or act as parasites.

Chytrids

Flagellated aquatic fungi belonging to Chytridiomycota.

Flagellated

Having a flagellum that allows movement, especially through water.

Major Fungal Groups Studied

Zygomycota, Ascomycota, and Basidiomycota.

Zygomycota

Commonly called zygote fungi because they form a thick-walled zygospore around a diploid zygote.

Ascomycota

Commonly called sac fungi because they possess sac-like sporangia called asci.

Basidiomycota

Commonly called club fungi because they possess club-shaped sporangia called basidia.

Spore

A reproductive cell designed to travel to a new location, germinate, and grow into a new mycelium.

Fungal Spores

Spores produced by fungi that can develop into new fungal organisms.

Spore Production

Fungal spores can be produced through either mitosis or meiosis.

Haploid

A cell containing one set of chromosomes, represented by n.

Diploid

A cell containing two sets of chromosomes, represented by 2n.

Hypha

A thread-like strand of fungal cells.

Hyphae

The thread-like structures that make up the body of most fungi.

Mycelium

The entire network or collection of hyphae within the body of a fungus.

Relationship Between Hyphae and Mycelium

Hyphae are individual thread-like fungal structures, while a mycelium is the collective network of all hyphae.

Sporangium

A structure or location in a fungus where spores are produced.

Sporangia

The plural form of sporangium.

Fruiting Body

A larger fungal structure containing numerous sporangia and designed to aid in spore distribution.

Most Recognizable Part of a Fungus

The fruiting body, such as a mushroom.

Fungal Life Cycle

Fungi generally have complex life cycles with alternating sexual and asexual stages.

Asexual Reproduction in Fungi

Reproduction that occurs without the fusion of gametes or nuclei and can produce spores through mitosis.

Sexual Reproduction in Fungi

Reproduction involving the interaction and fusion processes of haploid fungal cells.

Prominent Fungal Life Cycle Stage

Fungi generally favor the haploid stage.

Plasmogamy

The fusion of the cytoplasm of two haploid fungal cells without the fusion of their nuclei.

Karyogamy

The fusion of two haploid nuclei to form a diploid nucleus.

Dikaryotic Stage

A fungal life cycle stage in which one cell contains two distinct haploid nuclei.

Dikaryotic Ploidy

The dikaryotic stage is represented as n + n.

How a Dikaryotic Cell Forms

Plasmogamy occurs, causing cytoplasms to fuse while the two nuclei remain separate.

Prominent Dikaryotic Stage

The dikaryotic stage is prominent in Ascomycota and Basidiomycota.

What Happens After Karyogamy

A diploid cell forms and typically undergoes meiosis soon afterward.

Meiosis in Fungi

Meiosis produces haploid spores that can grow into new hyphae and mycelium.

Phylum Zygomycota

Zygote fungi characterized by the formation of a thick-walled zygospore.

Zygote Fungi

Another name for fungi in the phylum Zygomycota.

Zygospore

A thick-walled structure surrounding a newly formed diploid zygote.

Formation of a Zygospore

A zygospore forms when haploid cells from two different fungal hyphae fuse and create a diploid zygote surrounded by a thick wall.

What Happens Inside a Zygospore

Meiosis occurs inside the zygospore.

What Emerges From a Zygospore

A haploid sporangium emerges and grows after meiosis.

Rhizopus

A common zygospore fungus known as black bread mold.

Black Bread Mold

The common name for Rhizopus.

Rhizopus Hyphae Types

Rhizopus has stolons, rhizoids, and sporangiophores.

Rhizoids

Root-like hyphae that anchor the mycelium and burrow into the substrate.

Stolons

Hyphae that grow horizontally.

Sporangiophores

Vertical hyphae or stalks that bear or generate sporangia.

Function of Rhizoids

To anchor the fungal mycelium.

Function of Stolons

To grow horizontally across the substrate.

Function of Sporangiophores

To grow vertically and bear sporangia.

Rhizopus Life Cycle

Haploid hyphae fuse to produce a zygospore containing a diploid zygote, which undergoes meiosis and eventually produces sporangia that release new spores.

Structures Identified in Rhizopus

Mycelium, hyphae, sporangia, stolons, rhizoids, and sporangiophores.

Phylum Ascomycota

Sac fungi characterized by sac-like sporangia called asci.

Sac Fungi

The common name for fungi in the phylum Ascomycota.

Septate Hyphae

Hyphae containing internal separations called septae.

Septae

Internal divisions or separations within fungal hyphae.

Defining Structure of Ascomycota

The ascus.

Ascus

A sac-like sporangium found in Ascomycota.

Asci

The plural form of ascus.

Types of Ascomycota Observed

Yeast, cup fungi, and conidiospore fungi.

Fruiting Body in Ascomycota

A distinct structure that contains reproductive structures such as asci.

Examples of Sac Fungi

Yeasts, mildews, and cup fungi.

Yeast

A unicellular fungus belonging to Ascomycota that does not produce hyphae.

Yeast Structure

Yeast consists of single cells rather than a multicellular mycelium.

Yeast Reproduction

Yeast favors asexual reproduction through mitotic cell division or budding.

Budding

A form of asexual reproduction in which a new cell grows outward from a mother cell and eventually separates.

How Budding Works

The mother cell extends its cytoplasm and membrane to form a bud, which grows, receives a nucleus, and eventually separates into a new cell.

Mother Cell

The original cell from which a new bud develops during budding.

Bud

A developing new cell that grows from a mother cell during budding.

Cup Fungi

Large and prominent sac fungi whose asci are grouped into a fruiting body called an ascocarp.

Ascocarp

The fruiting body of cup fungi that contains numerous asci.

Meaning of Ascocarp

Sac-fruit.

Ascospores

Spores produced within an ascus.

How Ascospores Are Produced

Hyphae fuse, form a zygote, and undergo meiosis to produce asci containing ascospores.

Typical Shape of Cup Fungi

A cup or bowl-shaped ascocarp.

Morels

A type of cup fungus with a bell-shaped ascocarp.

Truffles

A type of cup fungus with a subterranean tuber-shaped ascocarp.

Peziza

A cup fungus used for observing structures such as hyphae, ascocarps, and asci.

Conidiospore Fungi

Sac fungi that reproduce asexually by producing numerous conidia.

Conidia

Asexual spores produced by some fungi.

Conidiophore

A specialized hypha or stalk associated with the production and arrangement of conidia.

Conidia Arrangement

Conidia may form large tufts or strings of spores at the end of a hypha.

Conidiospore Reproduction

An asexual reproductive process in which numerous spores are produced through mitosis.

Aspergillus

A common conidiospore fungus with a conidiophore that becomes swollen and nearly circular at the end during spore production.

Penicillium

A common conidiospore fungus known for producing the antibacterial compound penicillin.

Penicillin

An antibacterial compound associated with the fungus Penicillium.

Penicillium Appearance

Penicillium has finger-like chains of conidia spores.

Aspergillus Appearance

The end of the hypha swells, giving the conidiophore an almost circular appearance.

Phylum Basidiomycota

Club fungi characterized by club-shaped sporangia called basidia.

Club Fungi

The common name for fungi belonging to Basidiomycota.

Basidium

A club-shaped sporangium found in Basidiomycota.

Basidia

The plural form of basidium.

Basidiocarp

The fruiting body of Basidiomycota.

Example of a Basidiocarp

A mushroom.