Introduction to the Fungi

How do fungi absorb nutrients?

Directly through the cell wall

What are the two structural forms of fungi?

unicellular yeasts or multicellular filamentous fungi

How do most multicellular fungi reproduce?

spores

What is the body of a multicellular fungi called?

thallus

What is a mycelium

an aggregate of hyphae

What is contained within the cell walls of hyphae?

chitin

What do yeasts look like on an agar plate?

bacterial cultures

What do filamentous fungi look like on an agar plate?

fuzzy

Where do fungal spores origoriginate from?

Hyphae on multicellular fungi

How do yeasts reproduce?

via mitotic budding

What is a saprophyte?

fungi which feeds from decaying matter

What is a biotroph?

fungi which feeds from a living host

What is a necrotroph?

feeds by invading host cells, killing them and obtaining their nurtients

What mechanism do necrotrophs use to obtain nutritents

cell wall degrading enzymes and broad spectrum toxins

What are the 3 phases of fungal feeding?

Hyphal tips release enzymes

Enzymatic breakdown

Products diffuse into hyphae

What two organisms are in lichen?

fungal and cyanobacteria/green alga

What two organisms are in mycorrhiza?

fungi and plant roots

What is the role of fungi in lichens?

Increases the ability for alga/bacteria to absorb mineral salts and water

What is the role of the cyanobacteria/alga in lichen?

Supplies food to fungus via biproducts of photosynthesis

What is the role of the plant in mycorrhizas?

nutrition for the fungus

What is the role of the fungus in mycorrhizas?

Supplies the plant with minerals and water contained in soil

Where does the antibiotic penicillin come from?

The filamentous fungi Penicillum

On what hosts do pathogenic filamentous fungi work best?

immunocompromised individuals

At what temperatures do fungi thrive?

ambient temperatures

thus fungal infection typically external

What is a fungus on skin, hair or nail beds called?

dermatophyte

What fungi is behind athletes foot

tinea

What is the purpose of vacuoles in yeast?

breaking down proteins, storing nutrients and maintaining homeostasis

How do most yeasts reproduce?

asexually via budding

What are the products of fermentation of glucose?

ethanol and CO2

What is a pseudohyphae?

What is candidiasis?

An infection causes by overgrowth of the naturally growing Candida fungi

What causes candidiasis

off-balance of the microbiome

At what temperatures do dimorphic fungi transition?

convert between hyphae (22–25°C) and yeast (37°C)

What is upregulated in the yeast phase of dimorphic fungi?

genes involved in disrupting host immune defense

How do dimorphic fungi create disease?

Inhaled as spores from multicellular forms, develop into yeast in the body due to temperature

What is histoplasmosis

A dimorphic fungi

Common in soils around bird and bat droppings

Risk of complications in immunocompromised

What are true fungi?

Eumycota

Apart from filamentous, what can multicellular yeasts be called?

mold

What is the phospholipid bilayer in fungi made of?

ergosterol

What are the two main components in the fungal phospholipid bilayer

chitin synthase, glucan synthase

From bottom to top, describe the structure of a fungal cell wall

phospholipid bilayer, chitin, glucan, mannoproteins

What macromolecule is glucan?

polysaccharide

What are the three genera of filamentous fungus?

Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Rhizopus

What is unique about the filamentous fungi genera aspergilus

What is unique about filamentous fungi genera penicillum

What is unique about filamentous fungi genera Rhizopus

What is aspergillus

a pathogenic fungus

causes pulmonary disease via inhalation of spores

What are the pseudohyphae of candiada albicans

What is invasive candidiasis?

What is mycoses

a fungal infection

What is the word to describe a disease having spread throughout the body

disseminated