Fungal Microbes of Note

PHYLUM: Zygomycetes

• named for sexually producing ZYGOSPORANGIA

  • are the site of Karyogamy and meiosis

  • resistant to freezing and drying out (ideal for unfavourable conditions)

• approximately 1000 species

• fairly typical lifecycle follows Rhizopus stononifer (black bread mould)

  • Coenocytic hyphae

  • asexual sporangia producing haploid spores

includes: fast-growing moulds, parasites and commensal symbionts

Rhizopus stolonifer

PHYLUM: Ascomycetes/ Ascomycota

• inhabit marine, terrestrial, and freshwater habitats

• produce sexual spores in sac-like ASCI contianed in fruiting bodies known as ASCIOCARPS

• reproduce asexually by enormous numers of asexual spores called CONIDIA

  • not formed inside sporangia but at the tips of the hyphae called CONIDIOPHORES

Neurospora crassa and Penicillium

PHYLUM: Basicomycetes/ Basicomycota

• phylum is defined by the club-like structure called a BASIDIUM

  • which is a transient diploid life stage

• life cycle usually includes long-lived Dikaryotic Mycelium

• Mycelium reproduces sexually in response to environmental stimuli - producing BASIDIOCARPS

  • elaborate fruiting bodies that are often the source of BASIDIOSPORES

Mushrooms

PHYLUM: Microsporidia

• obligate intracellular parasites

• lack mitochondria and microtubules

• thought to be protozoa until DNA sequenced

• cause opportunistic infections

SPECIES: Phytophthora infestans

late potato blight - plant disease

SPECIES: Ceratocystic ulmi

dutch elm disease - plant disease

Deuteromycetes/ Deuteromycota

FUNGI IMPERFECTA

• an old category not used so much today

  • rendered obsolete by molecular genetics

• any fungi for which the sexual stages had yet to be observed was placed in this category