Apologia Module 4, Kingdom Fungi, Part B

Module 4, Part A
Module 4, Part C
Quizlet Vocabulary Game, M4 
M4 Recap Blog Post at Sahm-I-Am
Mold! (blog post at SAI cont.) 
• Great drawings and explanation of the Life Cycle of a Mushroom

(1) p. 103-108
Phylum Basidiomycoata (buh sid' ee oh my koh' tuh)
Remember the silly phrase, bus city o(n) my coat.  =)
This phylum is often referred to as the "club fungi" because the spores are formed on club-shaped cells known as basidia (sing. basidium).  So now there's a club in this bus city!
The spores are called basidiospores.  (see image)
These spores are the result of sexual reproduction between mycelia.
Mushrooms are the most common examples of this phylum.  Most of these fungi are saprophytic (feed off dead organisms), but some are parasitic (feed off a living host).

p. 103-105 Reproduction of Basidiomycota
Some mushrooms form spores on basidia on the gills of a mushroom.


p. 105 Fairy Ring
A "fairy ring" (see image, source) grows a certain way because the saprophytic mycelium under the surface of the ground is ever growing outward, in search of dead organisms for food.  As they spread, the old hyphae in the middle will die as there is no longer food in that area, but the hyphae at the edge of the mycelium are still finding food.  When it is time to reproduce, the living hyphae at the edge of the ring produce fruiting bodies, thus forming a fairy ring.  Each year, the ring gets larger.


p. 106 Puffballs
These mushrooms form spores on basidia inside a membrane rather than on the gills of the mushroom cap.
Their spores are spread by being carried by the wind, so they are unlikely to grow in patches.


p. 106 Shelf Fungi
(see images) Shelf fungi found on dead wood are saprophytes.  Shelf fungi found on living trees are parasites.

p. 107 Rust
There are different kinds of these parasites: stem rust, leaf rust, stripe rust, and more (see images).

Some kinds of rust need a main host and an alternate host, such as the wheat rust (see image) that produces a red spore on the wheat until the wheat season ends.  Then it forms a different type of spore and in the spring will find an alternate host on the leaves of a barberry bush.  The spores formed here can find their way back to the wheat, and can continue this cycle.

Stem Rust


Wheat Rust


►Another video on wheat rust.


p. 107 Smuts
More parasites: smuts on barley, leaf, corn and grass.

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(2) p. 109-112 
Phylum Ascomycota (ask' uh my koh' tuh)  Ask-a my coat!
Memebers of this phylum are both single-celled and multicellular.  They form their spores in protective membranes (sacs) of various shapes that are referred to as sac fungi.
The spores are called ascospores.
The organisms in this phylum that are single-celled are usually called yeasts, and most are syprophytic, although there are some that are parasitic.  Most have a form of asexual reproduction called budding, as pictured on p. 111 in Experiment 4.2, Yeast and the Fermentation Process.
Besides the nucleus, about the only organelle in a yeast cell is a vacuole that stores food, and certain chemicals the yeast needs.  Certain species of yeast store substances useful to humans in these vacuoles.
We are most familiar with yeast that is used in baking.  That kind of yeast feeds on sugars in bread dough.


Budding yeast in bread dough.


What do yeast like to eat?


Other members of phylum Ascomycota:
►Morels (see images) are edible but have toxic look-alikes.  These form their ascospores in the protective openings on the mushroom.

►Cup Fungi (see images) form their ascospores inside the cup.  When rain hits the cup, the force of impact releases the ascospores.

Remember, these and morels are sometimes called sac fungi since they form their spores in protective membranes (sacs) that are shaped like globes, flasks, or dishes.

Many other fungi that cause disease are also in phylum Ascomycota such as ergot of rye which can be deadly to humans.  Some fungi can cause diseases in trees like Dutch elm disease and chestnut blight.




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(3) p. 112-114
Phylum Zygomycota (zye' goh my koh' tuh)  Zygo, my coat.  (Who names their coat?)
This phylum contains those fungi that form zygospores, a zygote surrounded by a hard, protective covering.

The mold that grows on bread is a member of phylum Zygomycota. 
♦Bread molds can reproduce asexually though stolons (runners).
♦They can reproduce asexually by releasing spores.
♦They can reproduce sexually by forming a zygospore.  Although all three means of reproduction are used, it is this last form of sexual reproduction that classifies them in phylum Zygomycota.

►Awesome diagram of what bread mold looks like up close.
Bread Mold



More in Part C.