MICROBIOLOGY OF FUNGI

Introduction to fungi
 Fungi (Singular: fungus)are a kingdom of usually multicellular
eukaryotic organisms(i.e. their cells possess a nuclear
membrane)that are heterotrophs (cannot make their own food)
and have important roles in nutrient cycling in an ecosystem.
 Fungi reproduce both sexually and asexually, and they also
have symbiotic associations with plants and bacteria. Yeast cells
tend to grow as single cells which reproduce asexually in a
process known as budding, although a minority of species (e.g.
Schizosaccharomyces pombe ) reproduce by fission. Many yeast
species are capable of sexual reproduction and the formation of
spores. However, they are also responsible for some diseases in
plants and animals. Fungi are placed in a separated kingdom
called the kingdom fungi.
 The study of fungi is known as mycology.
CHARACTERISTICS OF FUNGI
Characteristics

Diverse group of chemo

heterotrophs

Over 100,000 fungal species

identified

Only about 100 are human or

animal pathogens

Saprophytes – Digest dead organic

matter

Parasites –Obtain nutrients from

tissues of organisms

Most are aerobes or facultative

anaerobes Fungi are not Plants.
They are Non-Photosynthetic.
Characteristics

Eukaryotes and Non-Motile.

Most of the Fungi are saprobes

(live on dead organism.)
Absorptive heterotrophs (Digest
food first & then absorb it into
their bodies)
Release digestive enzyme to
break down organic material or
their host.
Store food energy as Glycogen.
Important decomposers &
recycles of nutrients in the
environment.
Most of the Fungi are multicellular
except unicellular yeast.
Characteristics
• Lack true roots, stems or leaves.
• Some Fungi are internal or external parasites.
• A few fungi act like predators & capture prey
like roundworms. Some are edible, while
others are poisonous.
• Produce both sexual & asexual spores.
• Classified by their sexual reproductive
structures.
• Grow best in warm, moist environments.
• A Fungicide is a chemical used to kill fungi.
• Fungi Include puffballs, yeasts, mushrooms,
smuts, rusts, ringworm & mold. The antibiotic
penicillin is made by the penicillium
STRUCTURE OF FUNGI
Structure of fungi
 Fungi: Eucaroytic cell
 – Cell envelope
 • Cell membrane
 • Cell wall (chitin)
 – Nucleus with chromosome
 – Cytoplasm
 • Endoplasmic reticulum
 • Ribosomes
 • Golgi Complex
 • Mitochondria
 – Flagella? (rare)
 • Cell membrane
 – Flexible thin skin that encloses the cells
 interior
 – Controls in/out transport of substances
 (via proteins in membrane)
 • Cell wall
 – Provide rigidity, strength and protection
 – Much simpler in structure than bacterial
 cell walls
 – Cell walls of fungi contain polysaccharide
 (chitin): also found in exoskeletons of crabs
Structure of fungi
 The main body of most fungi is made up of fine,
branching, usually colourless threads called hyphae.
Each fungus will have vast numbers of these hyphae, all
intertwining to make up a tangled web called
the mycelium. The mycelium is generally too fine to be
seen by the naked eye, except where the hyphae are very
closely packed together. The picture on the left was taken
through a microscope. The hyphae are magnified 100
times life size.
 The hyphae of most fungi are divided into cells by internal walls
called septa (singular, septum). Septa usually have little pores
that are large enough to allow ribosomes, mitochondria and
sometimes nuclei to flow among cells. Hyphae that are divided
into cells are called septate hyphae. However, the hyphae of
some fungi are not separated by septa. Hyphae without septae
are called coenocytic hyphae. Coenocytic hyphae are big,
multinucleated cells.

 A mycelium may range in size from microscopic to very large. In

fact, one of the largest living organisms on Earth is the mycelium
of a single fungus. The giant fungus covers 8.9 square kilometers
(3.4 square miles) in an Oregon forest. That’s about the size of a
small city. The fungus didn’t grow that large overnight. It’s
 Fruiting Bodies
Some fungi become noticeable only when producing spores
(fruiting), either as mushrooms or molds. For example, the fruiting
bodies of the Armillaria fungus , but the large “body” of the fungus,
the mycelium, is hidden underground. This fruiting body, known as
the sporocarp, is a multicellular structure on which spore-producing
structures form. The fruiting body is part of the sexual phase of a
fungal life cycle. The rest of the life cycle is characterized by the
growth of mycelia.
 Dimorphic Fungi
Some fungi take on different shapes, depending on their
environmental conditions. These fungi are called dimorphic fungi,
because they have “two forms.” For example, the
fungus Histoplasma capsulatum, which causes the disease
histoplasmosis, is thermally dimorphic; it has two forms that are
dependent on temperature. In temperatures of about 25°C, it grows
as a brownish mycelium, and looks like a mass of threads. At body
temperature (37°C in humans), it grows as single, round yeast cells.
CLASSIFICATION OF FUNGI
Morphological classification
 Depending on cell morphology fungi are classified as :
a. Yeasts
b. Yeast like fungi
c. Molds
d. Dimorphic fungi
 Yeast:
Yeast are single-celled microorganisms that are classified, along
with molds and mushrooms, as members of the Kingdom Fungi.
Yeasts are evolutionally diverse and are therefore classified into
two separate phyla, Ascomycota or sac fungi and Basidiomycota or
higher fungi, that together form the subkingdom Disarray.
 Budding yeast, also referred to as “true yeasts”, are members of
the phylum Ascomycota and the order Saccharomycetales. Such
classifications are based on characteristic of the cell, ascosporic,
and colony, as well as cellular physiology.
 Yeast-like-Fungi:
Yeast like grow partly as yeast &
 elongated cells resembling hyphae. The latter form a
pseudomycelium.Example: Candida albicans.
 characters
 Single-celled (unicellular), no hyphae
 – Individual cells: blastospores / blastoconidia
 • Reproduction
 – Budding (majority)
 – Spore formation
 • Presence
 – Soil / water
 – Fruits / vegetables
 • Fermentation (Louis Pasteur) by yeast
 – Anaerobe: Sugar  alcohol (wine and beer)
 – Aerobe: Sugar  CO2 + water (bread)
 • Pathogens
 – Candida
 Yeast breaks down sugar to ethanol (alcohol) and carbon dioxide
 – Process is known as fermentation: production of bread, beer
and wine
 – Carbon dioxide released from the fermentation process is
filling balloon
 – When making bread: CO2 causes dough to rise to make a light
spongy loaf
 – In the absence of sugar, yeast lost its source of energy: no CO2
is produced
 Molds

• Filaments (Hyphae  mycelium)

– Aerial hyphae
– Vegetative hyphae
• Reproduction
– Spore formation (sexually or
asexually)
• Presence
– Soil / water
– Food spoilage (bread moulds, potato
blight)
– Food flavor (cheese)
• Produce
– Antibiotics (Penicillium)
– Enzymes and acids
 characters
 Large fungi
 – Forest: mushrooms, toadstools,
 puffballs, bracket fungi
 – No microorganisms!
 • Structure
 – Network of filaments (mycelium)
 • In soil or rotting log
 – Fruiting body
 • Spore formation and release
 • Spore germinates into new organism
 • Delicious food vs. toxic death
REPRODUCTION
 Reproduction
 Reproduction is the biological process by which new “offspring”
individual organisms are produced from their “parents".
Reproduction is a fundamental feature of all known life; each
individual organism exists as the result of reproduction. The
known methods of reproduction are broadly grouped into two
main types: sexual and asexual.
 Fungi also have 3 types of reproductions:
 Vegetative
 Asexual
 Sexual
 VEGETATIVE REPRODUCTION
Vegetative reproduction can occur by fragmentation, budding,
fission, sclerotic and rhizomorphs.
 Sclerotic: Sclerotic are penetrating bodies made up of
compact masses of hyphae. They grow under unfavorable
conditions to produce new mycelia.
 Rhizomorphs: Rhizomorphs are rope like twisted masses
of hyphae with well-defined apical growing point. Pass
the unfavorable periods in dormant stages but with the
onset of favorable conditions each rhizomorph give rise
to a new mycelium.
 Vegetative reproduction can occur in various ways –
 Fragmentation: Hyphae breaks into pieces and each
piece give rise to a new mycelium.
 Fission: Common in yeast. Cells divide into daughter
cells.

 Budding: Daughter buds appears from parent cell. This

bud separates and forms a new organism.
 At times these buds fail to separate and after repeated
budding it forms pseudomycelium
 .
ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION

Sporangiospores: These are thin-walled, non-motile

spores formed in a sporangium. They may be uni-or
multinucleate. On account of their structure, they are
also called as aplanospores.

Zoospores: They are thin-walled, motile spores formed in

a zoosporangium.

Conidia: In some fungi, the spores are not formed inside

a sporangium. They are born freely on the tips of special
branches called conidiophores. Thus, these spores are
conidia.
 SEXUAL REPRODUCTION
With the exception of Deuteromycotina (Fungi imperfecti),
we find sexual reproduction in all groups of fungi. During
sexual reproduction, the compatible nuclei show a specific
behaviour which is responsible for the onset of three
distinct mycelial phases. The three phases of nuclear
behaviour are as under:
 Plasmogamy: Fusion of two protoplasts.
 Karyogamy: Fusion of two nuclei.
 Meiosis: The reduction division.
Systematic classification of fungi
Figure 31.18 Mycorrhizae
Figure 31.20x2 Pink ear rot of corn