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Title: Kingdom Fungi Group: 2 Sec: A

Presenters: Althea Aenlle, Bea Niña Abella, Nyla Zybel Bagatila, Kaila Nicole Mabansag

Specific Learning Objectives;

1. Describe the distinguishing characteristics of the kingdom fungi.

2. Explain the fate of a fungal spore that lands on an appropriate food source.
3. List distinguishing characteristics and give examples of each fungal groups.
4. Explain the ecological significance of fungi as decomposers.
5. Describe the important ecological role of mycorrhizae.
6. Characterize the unique nature of a lichen.
7. Summarize some of the ways that fungi impact humans economically.
8. Summarize the importance of fungi to biology and medicine.

Introduction

Kingdom Fungi - one of the six major biological kingdoms used to classify living organisms. This
kingdom consists of eukaryotic, heterotrophic organisms that absorb nutrients from their
environment.
Members of this kingdom are commonly known as fungi, and they include molds, yeasts,
mushrooms, and more.
Brief Overview & its Importance

They play key roles as decomposers, and symbiotic partners in ecosystems. Fungi are crucial in
medicine (e.g., antibiotics), agriculture (e.g., soil health), and industry (e.g., fermentation). While
they can benefit humans, some fungi also cause diseases in plants, animals, and humans.
Understanding fungi is essential for ecological balance, medical advancements, and
sustainable practices.

Characteristics of Kingdom Fungi

• Fungi are eukaryotes that lack chlorophyll and are heterotrophic.

• Fungi cell walls contain chitin, a nitrogen-containing polysaccharide. The vegetative
(nonreproductive) body of most fungi is a mycelium that consists of a branched network of
threadlike filaments called hyphae.
• Other fungi—the yeasts are unicellular.
Fungi are decomposers, and others are parasites.

• As decomposers, fungi obtain their nutrients from dead organic matter (animal carcasses,
leaves, garbage, wood, and waste); as parasites, they obtain nutrients from living
organisms.
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• They require moisture to grow and obtain water from atmosphere as well as from the
organic material on which they live.
• When the environment is dry, fungi survive by going into a resting stage or by producing
spores that are resistant to desiccation (drying out).
Most fungi have a filamentous body

• Yeasts reproduce asexually mainly by budding, in which a small bulge (bud) grows and
eventually separates from the parent cell.
• They also reproduce asexually by fission (the equal division of one cell into two cells), and
sexually through spore formation.
Most fungi are filamentous molds.

• Molds consists of long, branched threads (filaments) of cells called hyphae (sing. hypha).
• Hyphae form a tangled mass or tissuelike aggregation known as a mycelium (pl., mycelia).
The vegetative (nonreproductive) body of most fungi, consisting of a branched network of
hyphae.
• Some hyphae are coenocytic; they are not divided into individual cells but are like an
elongated multinucleated giant
• Other hyphae are divided by cross walls, called septa (sing. septum), into individual cells
that contain one or more nuclei.
• The septa of septate fungi contains large spores, permits cytoplasm and sometimes nuclei to
flow from cell to cell.
Fungi reproduce by spores

Spore – a reproductive cell that gives rise to individual offspring in fungi and certain other organisms.

• They are dispersed by wind or by animals.

• They are usually produced on aerial hyphae (hyphae that project up into the air).
In some fungi, such as mushrooms, the aerial hyphae form large reproductive structures, called fruiting
bodies.

Fungi produce spores either asexually (by mitosis) or sexually (by meiosis)

• In sexual reproduction, the hyphae of two generally distinct mating types come together
and their cytoplasm fuses, a process known as plasmogamy.
• The resulting cell has two haploid nuclei, one from each fungus.
• At some point, the two haploid nuclei fuses. This process, called karyogamy, results in a cell
containing a diploid zygote nucleus.
• Meiosis then occurs, and haploid spores form.
• Hyphae that contain two genetically distinct nuclei within each cell are referred to as
dikaryotic, which is described as n + n rather than 2n.
• Hyphae that contain only one nucleus per cell are monokaryotic.
Fungal Diversity

Chytridiomycota, Zygomycota, Glomeromycota, Ascomycota, and Basidiomycota – major phyla of

fungi.

• Fungi that did not fit into the major groups are called deuteromycetes (phylum
Deuteromycota).
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• Deuteromycetes are fungi that has no sexual stage had been observed for them or any point
in their life cycle.
Chytridiomycetes or chytrids – small fungi that inhabit ponds and damp soil; a few species live in salt
water; earliest fungal group to evolve.

• Most chytrids are decomposers that degrade organic material. However, a few species cause
disease in plants and animals.
• They are unicellular or composed of a few cells that form a simple body called thallus – has
slender extensions that anchor it to a food source and absorb food, called rhizoids.
• They are the only fungi that have flagellated cells.
• Chytrid species that reproduce sexually have flagellated gametes.
Zygomycetes – a fungus characterized by the production of nonmotile, asexual spores and sexual
zygospores.

• They produce zygospores, sexual spores that survive unfavorable environments by

remaining dormant.
• Their hyphae are coenocytic – that is, they lack septa (form to separate individuals of
different species.
Glomeromycetes – previously considered Zygomycetes, but later concluded that they form a separate
group based on molecular comparisons.

• They reproduce asexually with large, multinucleate spores called blastospores.

• Sexual reproduction has NOT been observed.
• The symbiotic relationships between fungi and the roots of plants are called mycorrhizae
(from Greek words meaning “fungus roots”).
• The roots supply the fungus with sugars, amino acids, and other organic substances.
• With the help of the mycorrhizal fungus, the plant takes in more water and minerals, such as
phosphorus and nitrogen.
• Glomeromycetes extend their hyphae through cell walls of root cells but do not penetrate
the plasma membrane.
• As the hyphae push forward, the root plasma membrane surrounds them. Thus, the hyphae
are like fingers pushing into a glove formed by the plasma membrane.
• Because they are intracellular, these fungi are referred to as endomycorrhizal fungi.
• The most widespread endomycorrhizal fungi are called arbuscular mycorrhizae because the
hyphae inside the root cells form branched, tree-shaped structures known as arbuscules,
site of nutrient exchange between the plant and the fungus.
Ascomycetes – aka sac fungi because their sexual spores are produced in little sacs called asci (sing.,
ascus)

• Includes most yeasts; the powdery mildews; most of the blue-green, pink, and brown molds
that cause food to spoil; cup fungi; and the edible morels and truffles.
• Some ascomycetes cause serious plant diseases such as Dutch elm disease, chestnut
blight, ergot disease on rye, and powdery mildew on fruits and ornamental plants.
• In most ascomycetes, asexual reproduction involves the production of spores called conidia,
which are pinched off at the tips of certain specialized hyphae known as conidiophores
(conidia bearers), sometimes called summer spores.
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• Conidia occur in various shapes, sizes, and colors in different species; the color of the
conidia is what gives many of these molds their characteristic brown, blue-green, pink, and
other tints.
• Some ascomycetes are self-fertile, ability to mate with themselves.
• In sexual reproduction, two hyphae grow together and their cytoplasm mingles. Within this
fused structure, two nuclei come together, but they do not fuse.
• New hyphae develops, and these hyphae are dikaryotic. These n+n hyphae form a fruiting
body, known as an asocarp (where asci develop).
• A cell that develops into an ascus, the two nuclei fuse and form a diploid nucleus, the zygote
nucleus.
• Each zygote then undergoes meiosis to form four haploid nuclei.
• This process is usually followed by one mitotic division of each of the four nuclei, resulting
in the formation of eight haploid nuclei.
• Each haploid nucleus (surrounded by cytoplasm) develops into an ascospore.
• Ascospores are released when the tip of the ascus breaks open.
• If an ascospore lands in a suitable location, it germinates and forms a new mycelium.
Basidiomycetes (club fungi) – derive their name from the fact that they develop a basidium (pl.,
basidia), a structure comparable in function to the ascus of ascomycetes.

• Each basidium is an enlarged, club-shaped hyphal cell, at the tip of which four
basidiospores develop.
• Basidiospores develop on the outside of the basidium, whereas ascospores develop within
the ascus.
• Compact masses of hyphae a called buttons develop along the mycelium of a
basidiomycetes.
• Each button grows into the structure we ordinarily call a mushroom, which consists of a
stalk and cap, is referred to as a basidiocarp.
• Gills – thin plates that extend radially from the stalk to the edge of the cap (where basidia
develops)
• Each fungus produces basidiospores, and each basidiospore has the potential to be
transported to an appropriate environment (to give rise to a new primary mycelium).
• Hyphae of a primary mycelium consist of monokaryotic cell, each of which contains a
single haploid nucleus.
• When in the course of its growth, such hypha encounters another hypha, then the two fuses.
In this way, a secondary mycelium with dikaryotic hyphae is produced, in which each cell
contain two separate haploid nucleus.
• The n + n hyphae of the secondary mycelium grow extensively and eventually form compact
masses, which are the mushrooms, or basidiocarps.

On the gills of the mushroom, the dikaryotic nuclei fuse and form diploid zygotes.

Each zygote undergoes meiosis, resulting in four haploid nuclei.

These nuclei move to the edge of the basidium.

Fingerlike extensions of the basidium develops, and the nuclei and some cytoplasm move into them;
each of these extensions becomes a basidiospore, which is attached to the rest of the basidium by a
delicate stalk.
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When the stalk breaks, the basidiospore is released.

Ecological importance of fungi

Like bacteria, most fungi are free-living decomposers that absorb nutrients from organic wastes and
dead organisms.

When fungi degrade wastes and dead organisms, carbon (as CO2) and the mineral components of
organic compounds are released into the environment, where they become available to plants and
other organism.

Fungi form symbiotic relationship with animals

• Their survival depends on fungi that inhabit their guts because fungi have the enzymes that
break down organic compounds (such as cellulose, lignin, and cattle).
Fungi also form symbiotic relationship with ants.

• Ants bring leaves to their fungi and they also disperse fungi to new locations, in exchange,
fungi digest the leaves, thereby providing nutrients for the ants.
Symbiotic relationship between fungi (Mycorrhizae) and plant roots

Mycorrhizal fungi increases the surface area of plant’s roots so that the plant an absorb more water and
minerals. In exchange, the roots supply the fungus with organic materials.

• Endomycorrhizal Fungi - form mycorrhizae that extend into plant roots.

• Ectomycorrhizal Fungi – forms mycorrhizae consisting of dense sheath over the root’s
surface.
Symbiotic relationship between fungus & photosynthetic organism

Lichen – symbiotic association between a photosynthetic organism (an alga or cyanobacterium) and a
fungus (ascomycete or basidiomycete).

• In the past, lichen was considered a definitive example of mutualism, a symbiotic

relationship beneficial to both species.
• The photosynthetic partner carries photosynthesis (producing carbohydrate molecules)
and the fungus obtains water and minerals for the photosynthetic partner as well as
protects it against desiccation.
Lichens have one of three general growth;

• Crustose lichens are flat and grow tightly attached to the rock.
• Foliose lichens are also flat, but they have leaflike lobes and are not so tightly attached.
• Fruticose lichens grow erect and are branched and shrublike.
Lichens

• They grow everywhere except in heavily polluted cities.

• They grow on tree trunks, mountain peaks, and bare rocks. They are first organism to
colonize bare rocky areas, and play a role in the formation of soil.
• The “reindeer mosses” of arctic region are not mosses but lichens that serve as the main
source of food for the caribous (reindeer) herds of the region.
• Some lichens produce colored pigments; orchil (used to dye woolens) and litmus, used in
chemical laboratories as an acid-base (pH) indicator.
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• They vary greatly in size. Some are invisible, whereas others, such as reindeer mosses, may
cover kilometers of land with a growth that is ankle deep.
• Lichens absorb minerals mainly from the air and from rainwater, but they also absorb them
directly from the surface on which they grow.
• They are sensitive to toxic compounds in the environment, especially sulfur dioxide.
• Absorption of toxic compounds will result in damage to the chlorophyll of the
photosynthetic partner.
Lichens reproduce mainly by asexual means

• Fragmentation, in which bits of lichens break off and, if they land in a suitable place,
establish themselves as new lichens. Some lichens release special dispersal units called
soredia (sing., soredium).
• In others, the alga reproduces asexually by mitosis, whereas the fungus produces
ascospores. Wind disperses the ascospores, which may find an appropriate photosynthetic
partner only by chance.
Economical and Medical Impact of Fungi

Digestive enzymes of fungi to decompose wastes and dead organisms also enable fungi to reduce wood,
fiber and food.

Bracket fungi – cause enormous losses by decaying wood – both stored lumber and the wood of living
trees.

Fungi provide beverages and food

• Humans exploit the ability of yeasts to ferment sugars, which produces ethyl alcohol and
carbon dioxide.
• Wine is produced when yeasts ferment fruit sugars; beer is made when yeasts ferment
grain, usually barley.
• During the process of making bread, CO2 produced by the yeast becomes trapped in the
dough as bubbles, which causes the dough to rise. Both CO2 and alcohol produced by the
yeast evaporate during baking.
• Flavors and smells of cheeses such as Roquefort and Camembert are produced by the
mold, Penicillium
• Penicillium roquefortii, found in the caves near the French village of Roquefort, and only
cheeses produced in that area can be called Roquefort cheese.
Fungi to improve the nutrient quality of diet

• The mold, Aspergillus tamarii, and other microorganisms (bacteria and yeasts) are used to
produce soy sauce by fermentation of soy beans.
• Soy sauce enhances other foods with more than its special flavor; to the low protein rice
diet it adds vital amino acids from both the soybeans and the fungi themselves.
• Edible mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus) and poisonous mushrooms (sometimes called,
toadstools) can look alike and even belong to the same genus.
• Some of the most poisonous mushrooms belongs to the genus Amanita. Toxic species of
this genus are called “destroying angel” (A. virosa) and “death cap” (A. phalloides).
Fungi are important to modern biology and medicine
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The yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker’s yeast), an ascomycete, has served as a model eukaryotic
cell (the first eukaryote whose genome was sequenced).

• Researchers use this yeast to study processes as the correlation between cell age and
cancer.
• It is also used to study the mechanism of action of antifungal drugs and resistance to
these drugs.
Fungi produce useful drugs and chemicals

• Penicillin, produced by the mold, Penicillium notatum, discovered in 1928 by the British
bacteriologist Alexander Fleming.
• One of the most widely used and most effective antibiotics.
Other drugs derived from fungi include;

• Antibiotic griseofulvin - used clinically to inhibit the growth of athlete’s foot and
ringworm fungi.
• Cyclosporine – used to suppress immune responses in patients receiving organ transplants
• Statins – used to lower blood cholesterol levels
• Fumagillin – inhibits the formation of new blood vessels and may become an effective
anticancer agent
The ascomycete, Claviceps purpurea infects the flowers of rye plants and other cereals. It produces a
structure called an ergot (brownish black structure) where a grain would normally form.

• When humans eat bread made from ergot-contaminated rye flour, they may be poisoned by
the toxic substances in the ergot.
• These substances may cause ergotism (aka St. Anthony’s Fire), which involves nervous
spasms, convulsions, psychotic delusions, and constriction of blood vessel, that if severe
enough, can lead to gangrene.
• Some of the compounds of ergot are now used clinically in small quantities as drugs to
induce labor, to stop uterine bleeding, to treat high blood pressure and to relieve one
type of migraine headache.
Fungi cause many important plant diseases

• Fungi are responsible for about 70% of all major crop diseases, including epidemic diseases
(result in complete crop failure).
• The fungus may produce an enzyme that dissolves the plant’s cuticle, which it easily invades
the plant’s tissues.
• Parasitic fungi may produce special hyphal branches, haustoria, that penetrates host cells
and obtain nourishment from the cytoplasm.
• Ascomycete causes plant diseases such as; powdery mildews, chestnut blight, Dutch elm
disease, apple scab, and brown rot, which attacks cherries, plums, apricots, peaches,
and nectarines.
• Basidiomycete causes diseases that include smuts and rusts that attack a variety of
plants, including soybeans and cereals (corn, wheat, oats, and other grains).
Some fungi cause animal disease

• Only the skin, hair or nails are infected by superficial fungal infections, such as
Ringworm, athlete’s foot, and jock itch.
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• Pathogenic fungi are opportunists that cause infections only when the body’s immune
system is compromised, for example, in individuals with HIV.
• Candida – a fungus that inhabits the human mouth and vagina. When multiplies, it causes
thrush – a painful yeast infection of the mouth, throat and vagina.
Fungi that infects internal tissues and organs

Histoplasmosis – an infection of the lungs caused by inhaling the spores of a fungus abundant in bird
droppings.

• This infection is confined to the lungs. If the infection spreads into the bloodstream, it can
be serious and fatal.
Some fungi produce poisonous compounds called mycotoxins.

A few species of Aspergillus, produce potent mycotoxins called aflatoxins that harm the liver and are
known cancer-causing agents.

• Food on which aflatoxin-producing fungi commonly grow include peanuts, pecans, corn,
and other grains.
• Other foods that may contain traces of aflatoxins include animal products such as milk,
eggs, and meat (from animals that consumed feed contaminated by aflatoxin).
Fungi contribute to sick building syndrome, in which the occupants of a building experience adverse
health effects linked to the time spent in that building.

• When the conditions are moist, molds can grow on carpet, leather, cloth, wood, insulation
and food.
• Mold spores, fragments, and mold products make their way into the air, and people are
exposed through inhalation as well as skin contact.
• The most common responses to mold exposure are allergic reactions that range from mild
to severe illnesses, including hay fever, sinusitis, asthma, and dermatitis.

Study Outline

1. Describe the distinguishing characteristics of the kingdom fungi.

Fungi are eukaryotes that lack chlorophyll and are heterotrophic; cell walls contain chitin, a nitrogen-
containing polysaccharide; body of most fungi is a mycelium – consists of branched network of
threadlike filaments called hyphae. Other fungi-the yeasts are unicellular.

2. Explain the fate of a fungal spore that lands on an appropriate food source

Fungi reproduce by spores, reproductive cells that give rise to individual offspring. Spores may be
produced sexually or asexually. When the fungal spore comes into contact with an appropriate food
source, it germinates and begins to grow a mycelium

3. List distinguishing characteristics and give examples of each fungal groups

Chytrids (chytridiomycetes) are characterized by the production of flagellated cells; a parasitic chytrid
responsible for declining amphibian populations.

Zygomycetes are characterized by the production of nonmotile asexual spores and sexual zygospores;
the black bread mold.
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Glomeromycetes are symbionts that form intracellular associations (arbuscular mycorrhizae) with the
roots of most trees and herbaceous plants.

Ascomycetes are characterized by the production of nonmotile asexual conidia and sexual ascospores;
yeasts, cup fungi and green molds.

Basidiomycetes are characterized by the production of sexual basidiospores; mushrooms, rusts, and
smuts.

4.Explain the ecological significance of fungi as decomposers.

Most fungi are decomposers that break down organic compounds in dead organisms, leaves, garbage,
and wastes into simpler materials that can be recycled. Without this continuous decomposition,
essential minerals would be unavailable for use by new generations of organisms, and life would cease.

5. Describe the important ecological role of mycorrhizae

Mycorrhizae are mutualistic relationships between fungi and the roots of plants. Endomycorrhizal fungi
form mycorrhizae that extend into plant roots, and ectomycorrhizal fungi form mycorrhizae consisting
of a dense sheath over the root’s surface.

6. Characterize the unique nature of a lichen.

A lichen is a compound organism consisting of a symbiotic fungus and an alga or cyanobacterium.

Lichens have three main growth forms; crustose, foliose, and fruticose.

7. Summarize some of the ways that fungi impact humans economically.

• Mushrooms, morels, and truffles are foods;

• Yeasts are vital in the production of beer, wine and bread;
• Certain fungi are used to produce cheeses and soy sauce.
• Fungi are also used to make citric acid and other industrial elements.
8.Summarize the importance of fungi to biology and medicine.

• Fungi are used to make medications, including penicillin and other antibiotics.
• Fungi cause many important plant diseases such as wheat rust, Dutch elm disease, and
chestnut blight.
• Fungi are opportunistic pathogens in humans. They cause human diseases, including
ringworm, athlete’s foot, candidiasis, and histoplasmosis.
• Some fungi produce mycotoxins, such as aflatoxins, which can cause liver damage and
cancer.

Phylum and Common Asexual Reproduction Sexual Reproduction Other Key

Types Characteristics
Chytridiomycota Flagellated zoospores Flagellated gametes
(chytrids or produced in
chytridiomycetes) zoosporangia

Chytridium
Zygomycota Nonmotile, haploid Zygospores Important
(Zygomycetes) spores produced in decomposers; some
sporangia are parasites;
Black bread mold opportunistic pathogen
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Glomeromycota Large, multinucleate Has not been observed Form arbuscular

(glomeromycetes) blastospores mycorrhizae with plant
roots
Ascomycota Conidia pinch off from Ascospores Have a dikaryotic
(ascomycetes or sac conidiophores stage; form important
fungi) symbiotic relationships
as lichens and
Yeasts, powdery mycorrhizae
mildews, molds,
morels, truffles
Basiodiomycota Uncommon Basidiospores Have a dikaryotic
(basidiomycetes or club stage; many form
fungi) mycorrhizae with tree
roots
Mushrooms, bracket
fungi, puffballs, rusts,
smuts

References

Berg, L. (2008). Introduction to Botany (2nd ed.).