PLP 150C1 1st Edition Lecture 2Outline of Last Lecture I. More characteristics and reviewII. Sporesa. Reproductioni. Sexual and asexualIII. Teleomorph vs anamorphIV. Parts of the mushroom diagramOutline of Current Lecture I. More fungal characteristicsII. Fungus of the dayIII. Spore productionIV. Where they liveV. Fungal diagnosticsCurrent Lecture*Remember, yeasts are ascomycetes. Yeast can live for a LONG time.But prokaryotes (bacteria) are much, much more ancient.Characteristics of fungi• Spores or seeds are how they are mobile• Small, generally 5-50 um diameter◦ A salt crystal is about 300 um• Most are forcibly discharged and wind-blown, and are fairly tolerant of desiccation and UV, but too much will kill them• A few spores are waterborne; hence the spores can swim because they have flagella. Most are chytrids.◦ So can Oomycetes (not true fungi. Kingdom chromista.) Also have flagella. They followchemical trails in the water.• Some spores can neither fly nor swim, but be carried away by some other mechanisms such as ingested by another organism. Must be manually broken up for spore dispersal.Fungus of the day: Pisolithus tinctorius, the “horse dung” fungus. It’s like a hard puffball. Has nohymenium, just an internal mass called the gleba where the basidiospores are formed. You can make beautiful textile dye from the gleba. Don’t eat it; won’t poison you, but not pleasant.Do all fungi produce spores? No. Some seem to have lost the ability to reproduce sexual and mycotically. Known as Mycelia Sterilia, propagate by hyphal fragmentation and/or the production of sclerotia (hard, heavily melanized, densely compact ball of spores).• Hyphal fragment propagation makes for easy artificial culture and research• And easy commercial productionWhere do they live? Almost everywhere. Most are terrestrial, in temperate or tropical arreas, found in association with soil or leaf litter (the great decomposers). But are diverse, can live in water too.Fungal Tools for Diagnostics• Morphology in nature, especially the sexual structures• Environment...where it’s found• Host. If it’s plant or animal associated.• Culture characteristics...Growth rate, pigment production• Physiology studies...what they consume or produce• DNA
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