What is the difference between sac fungi and club fungi

The club-shaped basidium carries spores called basidiospores. In the basidium, nuclei of two different mating strains fuse karyogamy , giving rise to a diploid zygote that then undergoes meiosis. The haploid nuclei migrate into basidiospores, which germinate and generate monokaryotic hyphae. The mycelium that results is called a primary mycelium. Mycelia of different mating strains can combine and produce a secondary mycelium that contains haploid nuclei of two different mating strains.

This is the dikaryotic stage of the basidiomyces lifecyle and and it is the dominant stage. Eventually, the secondary mycelium generates a basidiocarp , which is a fruiting body that protrudes from the ground—this is what we think of as a mushroom. The basidiocarp bears the developing basidia on the gills under its cap. Figure 7: The lifecycle of a basidiomycete alternates generation with a prolonged stage in which two nuclei dikaryon are present in the hyphae. Imperfect fungi—those that do not display a sexual phase—use to be classified in the form phylum Deuteromycota , , a classification group no longer used in the present, ever-developing classification of organisms.

While Deuteromycota use to be a classification group, recent moleclular analysis has shown that the members classified in this group belong to the Ascomycota or the Basidiomycota classifications. Since they do not possess the sexual structures that are used to classify other fungi, they are less well described in comparison to other members.

Most members live on land, with a few aquatic exceptions. They form visible mycelia with a fuzzy appearance and are commonly known as mold. Reproduction of the fungi in this group is strictly asexual and occurs mostly by production of asexual conidiospores [Figure 8]. Some hyphae may recombine and form heterokaryotic hyphae. Genetic recombination is known to take place between the different nuclei.

Figure 8: Aspergillus niger is an asexually reproducing fungus phylum Ascomycota commonly found as a food contaminant. The spherical structure in this light micrograph is a conidiophore. The fungi in this group have a large impact on everyday human life. The food industry relies on them for ripening some cheeses. The blue veins in Roquefort cheese and the white crust on Camembert are the result of fungal growth.

The antibiotic penicillin was originally discovered on an overgrown Petri plate, on which a colony of Penicillium fungi killed the bacterial growth surrounding it. Other fungi in this group cause serious diseases, either directly as parasites which infect both plants and humans , or as producers of potent toxic compounds, as seen in the aflatoxins released by fungi of the genus Aspergillus.

The Glomeromycota is a newly established phylum which comprises about species that all live in close association with the roots of trees. Fossil records indicate that trees and their root symbionts share a long evolutionary history. It appears that all members of this family form arbuscular mycorrhizae : the hyphae interact with the root cells forming a mutually beneficial association where the plants supply the carbon source and energy in the form of carbohydrates to the fungus, and the fungus supplies essential minerals from the soil to the plant.

The glomeromycetes do not reproduce sexually and do not survive without the presence of plant roots. Although they have coenocytic hyphae like the zygomycetes, they do not form zygospores. DNA analysis shows that all glomeromycetes probably descended from a common ancestor, making them a monophyletic lineage. Chytridiomycota chytrids are considered the most primitive group of fungi. They are mostly aquatic, and their gametes are the only fungal cells known to have flagella.

They reproduce both sexually and asexually; the asexual spores are called zoospores. Zygomycota conjugated fungi produce non-septated hyphae with many nuclei. Their hyphae fuse during sexual reproduction to produce a zygospore in a zygosporangium. Ascomycota sac fungi form spores in sacs called asci during sexual reproduction.

Asexual reproduction is their most common form of reproduction. Basidiomycota club fungi produce showy fruiting bodies that contain basidia in the form of clubs.

Spores are stored in the basidia. Most familiar mushrooms belong to this division. Fungi that have no known sexual cycle were classified in the form phylum Deuteromycota, which the present classification puts in the phyla Ascomycota and Basidiomycota.

Glomeromycota form tight associations called mycorrhizae with the roots of plants. Show Answer. Members of which phylum produce a club-shaped structure that contains spores? For each of the four groups of perfect fungi Chytridiomycota, Zygomycota, Ascomycota, and Basidiomycota , compare the body structure and features, and provide an example. Chytridiomycota Chytrids may have a unicellular or multicellular body structure; some are aquatic with motile spores with flagella; an example is the Allomyces.

Zygomycota conjugated fungi have a multicellular body structure; features include zygospores and presence in soil; examples are bread and fruit molds. Ascomycota sac fungi may have unicellular or multicellular body structure; a feature is sexual spores in sacs asci ; examples include the yeasts used in bread, wine, and beer production.

Basidiomycota club fungi have multicellular bodies; features includes sexual spores in the basidiocarp mushroom and that they are mostly decomposers; mushroom-producing fungi are an example. Student View. Preview Copy. Save Please log in to save materials. Show More Show Less.

Course Alignments. Fungal phyla. The chytrid Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis is seen in these light micrographs as transparent spheres growing on a a freshwater arthropod water mite and b algae. This chytrid causes skin diseases in many species of amphibians, resulting in species decline and extinction.

Zygomycete life cycle. Zygomycetes have asexual and sexual phases in their life cycles. In the asexual phase, spores are produced from haploid sporangia by mitosis not shown. In the sexual phase, plus and minus haploid mating types conjugate to form a heterokaryotic zygosporangium. Karyogamy then produces a diploid zygote. Diploid cells in the zygote undergo meiosis and germinate to form a haploid sporangium, which releases the next generation of haploid spores.

Rhizopus spores. Asexual sporangia grow at the end of stalks, which appear as a white fuzz seen on this bread mold, Rhizopus stolonifer. The black tips b of bread mold are the spore-containing sporangia. Art Connection Ascomycete life cycle. The lifecycle of an ascomycete is characterized by the production of asci during the sexual phase. In each ascus, the four nuclei produced by meiosis divide once mitotically for a total of eight haploid ascospores.

The haploid phase is the predominant phase of the life cycle in Ascomycetes. Which of the following statements is true? A dikaryotic ascus that forms in the ascocarp undergoes karyogamy, meiosis, and mitosis to form eight ascospores.

A diploid ascus that forms in the ascocarp undergoes karyogamy, meiosis, and mitosis to form eight ascospores. A haploid zygote that forms in the ascocarp undergoes karyogamy, meiosis, and mitosis to form eight ascospores. A dikaryotic ascus that forms in the ascocarp undergoes plasmogamy, meiosis, and mitosis to form eight ascospores. The bright field light micrograph shows ascospores being released from asci in the fungus Talaromyces flavus var.

Fairy ring. The body of this fungus, its mycelium, is underground and grows outward in a circle. Art Connection Basidiomycete life cycle. The lifecycle of a basidiomycete has alternate generations with haploid and dikaryotic mycelia. Haploid primary mycelia fuse to form a dikaryotic secondary mycelium, which is the dominant stage of the life cycle, and produces the basidiocarp.

A basidium is the fruiting body of a mushroom-producing fungus, and it forms four basidiocarps. The result of the plasmogamy step is four basidiospores. Karyogamy results directly in the formation of mycelia. A basidiocarp is the fruiting body of a mushroom-producing fungus. Aspergillus niger is an asexually reproducing fungus phylum Ascomycota commonly found as a food contaminant. The spherical structure in this light micrograph is an asexual conidiophore.

Molecular studies have placed Aspergillus with the ascomycetes and sexual cycles have been identified in some species. Figure Which of the following statements is true? Show Hint Hint: Figure A. Show Hint Hint: Figure D. Chytridiomycota Zygomycota Glomeromycota Ascomycota.

Show Hint Hint: A. Members of which phylum produce a club-shaped structure that contains spores? Chytridiomycota Basidiomycota Glomeromycota Ascomycota. Show Hint Hint: B.

Members of which phylum establish a successful symbiotic relationship with the roots of trees? Ascomycota Deuteromycota Basidiomycota Glomeromycota. Show Hint Hint: D. Each of the new cells in the secondary mycelium has one haploid nucleus from each parent.

This is assured by clamp connections, specialized structures unique to the club fungi. These are loop-like hyphae which connect the cytoplasm of adjacent cells and through which nuclei move during cell division. In particular, during cell division, one nucleus divides directly into the newly formed cell; the other nucleus divides inside the clamp connection and the two daughter nuclei migrate through the clamp connection in opposite directions to the two daughter cells.

The tertiary mycelium is simply an organized mass of secondary mycelium. It is a morphologically complex tissue and forms structures such as the typically mushroom-shaped basidiocarps commonly seen in nature. Sexual reproduction of the club fungi begins upon fusion of two primary hyphae to form a club-shaped structure, known as a basidium. Second, the two haploid nuclei inside the basidium fuse together to form a diploid zygote.

Third, the zygote undergoes meiosis to form two haploid nuclei. Fourth, these two haploid nuclei undergo mitosis to form a total of four haploid nuclei.

These four nuclei then migrate into projections, which form on the tip of the basidium. These projections then develop into four separate haploid spores, each with a single nucleus. In the species of club fungi which are large and fleshy, such as the mushrooms, a mass of basidia form a structure called a basidiocarp. The spores on the basidia are released from the underside of the fleshy gills of the mushroom. The color and shape of the basidiocarp, as well as the color of the spores are often diagnostic for species identification.