Fungal Interactions, Structures, and Their Ecological Roles

Posted on Dec 24, 2024 in Biology

Fungal Mutualisms with Phototrophs

What is the Basis of Calling Lichens a Mutualism?

Fungi in lichens form a mutualistic relationship with a photosynthetic partner by creating a partnership that benefits both organisms. The fungus relies on the photobiont for organic nutrients produced through photosynthesis, such as glucose, which is essential for its survival in nutrient-poor environments. In return, the fungus provides a protective structure that shields the photobiont from environmental stresses like UV radiation and extreme temperature fluctuations. Additionally, the fungal partner absorbs water and minerals from the surroundings and shares them with the photobiont, while also anchoring the lichen to surfaces to maintain stability.

What is the Structure of the Lichen Thallus?

i. Know the anatomy of a lichen cross section

ii. What are cephalodia?

Associations with both green algae and cyanobacteria result in cephalodia, pockets where the cyanobacterium is sequestered.

What Partners are Phototrophs in Lichens?

• Trebouxia
• Asterochloris
• Nostoc
• Gloeocapsa

What is the Difference Between Specificity and Selectivity?

Selectivity exists when partners are not randomly distributed with respect to the frequency of relationships versus Specificity exists when each habitant is associated with a limited phylogenetic range of inhabitants (or vice versa).

Specificity refers to how restricted or specialized a relationship is in terms of the range of partners involved. It focuses on the phylogenetic or taxonomic limits of the interaction. Selectivity refers to the non-random formation of partnerships based on preferences or environmental conditions. It focuses on the process or likelihood of association rather than its range.

Why are Lichens More Diverse in Rural Settings?

Lichens are more diverse in rural settings because these areas provide cleaner air, a greater variety of natural substrates, less human disturbance, favorable microclimates, and reduced exposure to pollutants and chemicals. These conditions enable lichens to grow, reproduce, and diversify more successfully compared to the often hostile environments of urban areas.

What are the Different Types of Mycorrhizae and Their Host Range?

i. Peloton

Orchids restrict mycorrhizal fungi to their roots. Inside orchid roots, fungi form coils of hyphae called pelotons. Orchids digest these pelotons to obtain nutrients needed for growth.

ii. Arbuscule

An arbuscule is a tree-like organ in some fungi that attaches to a plant’s roots and exchanges nutrients with it:

iii. Mantle and Hartig net

Mantle (labeled M) and Hartig Net (labeled H)

Mantle – a sheath around the roots of the symbiont plant

Hartig net – a hyphal network that extends into the root

What Benefits do Mycorrhizae Provide the Host Plant?

1. Increased volume of soil accessible to plants
2. Increased uptake of inaccessible nutrient forms
3. Changes in water relations
4. Protection from pathogenic fungi and nematodes
5. Cope with heavy metal stress

What Does the Term “Wood Wide Web” Refer to?

The “wood wide web” refers to the network of mycorrhizal fungi that connects the roots of different plants, allowing them to exchange resources such as carbon, water, nutrients, and signaling compounds.

In shaded environments, trees like P. menziesii can survive and thrive thanks to carbon supplied by B. papyrifera. This demonstrates a cooperative strategy, where stronger or better-lit plants support weaker or shaded ones, enhancing the overall resilience and stability of the forest ecosystem.

What are Mycoheterotrophs?

Mycoheterotrophs are plants that obtain some or all of their carbon and nutrients from fungi rather than through photosynthesis.

What are the Endophyte Class Types According to Rodriguez et al?

Key Differences:

1. Host Range: Class 1 has a narrow host range, while Classes 2-4 are broad.
2. Tissue Colonization:
   • Class 1 colonizes shoot and rhizome.
   • Class 2 colonizes shoot, root, and rhizome.
   • Classes 3 and 4 specialize in root colonization.
3. In Planta Biodiversity: Class 3 has high biodiversity, Class 4 is unknown, while Classes 1 and 2 are low.
4. Fitness Benefits:
   • Class 1 provides NHA benefits (nonhabitat-adapted).
   • Classes 2 and 3 provide both NHA and HA benefits (habitat-adapted).
   • Class 4 provides NHA benefits.

What are the Types of Benefits Provided by Endophytes?

• Anti-herbivory caused by Class I endophytes producing ergot alkaloids
• Additional benefits endophytes may provide include stress tolerance, such as thermotolerance and salt tolerance (habitat associated [HA])
• Class III endophytes have been shown to protect against plant pathogens

Fungal Mutualisms with Animals

How do Fungus Gardening Ants and Termites Keep Their Garden?

Ants and termites meticulously weed out contaminants or unwanted fungal spores. Workers constantly inspect the fungal garden and remove pathogens or competing fungi to maintain monoculture. Both ants and termites produce antimicrobial compounds from glands to inhibit the growth of unwanted fungi or pathogens. In ants, queens carry small pieces of the cultivated fungus in their buccal cavity when founding new colonies. This ensures that new colonies start with the correct fungal strain. Ants and termites regulate the temperature, humidity, and ventilation of their gardens to create an environment conducive to the growth of the desired fungus while suppressing other organisms.

What is the Difference Between Horizontal and Vertical Symbiont?

Vertical – The symbiont is passed directly from parent to offspring through seeds or reproductive structures.

Horizontal – The symbiont is acquired from the environment, often through spore rain or other external sources.

How are Symbionts Acquired in the Fungus Gardening Ants and Termites?

What is the Nature of the Mutualism Between Attine Ants?

What are Other Examples of Animal-Fungus Mutualism?

What Does it Mean that Attine Ants are “Specialised Farmers?

Attine ants farm fungi that are capable of independent survival, making the crops unspecialised.

Fungus-gardening termites farm fungi that are entirely dependent on termites, making the crops specialised.

Mating and Population Biology

What are the 3 Individuality Concepts in Fungi?

• Morphological species concept

Fungal individuals are defined as species based on their observable morphological traits, such as the size, shape, and structure of spores, fruiting bodies, and hyphae.

• Biological species concept

A fungal species is defined as a group of organisms that can reproduce sexually and produce viable, fertile offspring. Tests involving sexual reproduction between fungal isolates (e.g., dikaryon formation in Basidiomycetes) are used to confirm species boundaries.

• Phylogenetic species concept

Fungal species are defined based on their genetic distinctiveness, identified through molecular phylogenetics and DNA sequence analysis. Studies identifying consistent clustering of isolates into phylogenetic clades support the PSC.

How was the Humongous Fungus Determined to be so Big?

• Researchers used DNA fingerprinting techniques to determine that fungal samples collected across a large area (spanning approximately 15 hectares) were genetically identical.
• The mycelial network (the underground fungal structure) was analyzed, and its ability to grow and connect over such a vast area was demonstrated.
• Researchers estimated the fungus’s age (approximately 1,500 years) based on its growth rate and the time required to expand across its detected range.
• The fungus is a pathogen that attacks trees, and the pattern of tree infection in the area corresponded to the spread of a single fungal individual.

What is the Difference Between Vegetative Incompatibility?

Vegetative incompatibility ensures fungal individuality by preventing cytoplasmic or genetic exchange between competing mycelia.

Mating incompatibility fosters outcrossing and genetic diversity by regulating sexual reproduction.

What is the Role of Vegetative or Somatic Incompatibility?

Vegetative or somatic incompatibility is a mechanism in fungi that regulates interactions between fungal mycelia to ensure genetic integrity and defense against harmful elements. It occurs when genetically distinct mycelia fail to fuse or are rejected after fusion.

How are These Mating Systems Defined?

i. Homothallic – refers to a fungal reproductive system where a single individual is self-fertile and does not require outcrossing (mating with another individual) to reproduce sexually.

ii. Heterothallic – Heterothallic fungi need a genetically distinct partner to mate. Require outcrossing for sexual reproduction. This means two genetically distinct individuals with compatible mating types must come together for mating to occur.

iii. Bipolar – one incompatibility locus (MAT-1, MAT-2)

iv. Tetrapolar – two incompatibility loci (MAT-A, MAT-B)

Given a Pattern of Mating of Fungal Spores, Determine Whether?

Look up an example!

Why Does the High Number of Mating Types Observed in Mushroom?

The high number of mating types observed in mushroom fungi, particularly in species with tetrapolar mating systems, provides high outcrossing efficiency because it dramatically increases the probability that any two individuals will be sexually compatible.

What is the Buller Phenomenon?

It occurs when a dikaryon (a fungal cell or mycelium with two genetically distinct nuclei) interacts with a monokaryon (a fungal cell with a single nucleus) by donating one of its nuclei to the monokaryon, effectively fertilizing it.

What are the Major Species Concepts that Could be Applied to Fungi?

Mycologists accept that the best concept for a fungal species is an Evolutionary Species Concept, namely one in which a species is “ . . . a single lineage of ancestor descendent populations which maintains its identity from other such lineages and which has its own evolutionary tendencies and historical fate” (Wiley 1978 in Taylor et al. 2000).

Fungal Communities

What is an OTU and What is a Species-Area Curve?

An OTU is a term used in microbial and fungal ecology to classify groups of organisms (e.g., fungi, bacteria) that are considered to be taxonomic units based on their genetic similarity, often determined using DNA sequence data.

A species-area curve is a graphical representation that describes the relationship between the area sampled and the number of species observed.

Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) play a significant role in constructing species-area curves when studying microbial or fungal communities. Since defining traditional species is often challenging in these groups, OTUs serve as a practical proxy for”specie” based on genetic similarity.

What are Ways of Estimating the Species that Comprise a Fungal?

Are Fungal Communities Structured by Similar Forces as in Plant?

i. e.g., succession, dispersal limitation, neutral theory

Fungal communities are somewhat structured by similar forces as plant and animal communities, including succession, dispersal limitation, and both neutral and deterministic processes. However, fungi have unique ecological roles (e.g., decomposition, symbiosis) that add complexity to their community dynamics. While some aspects (e.g., spore dispersal) align closely with plant and animal ecology, others, like their microscopic and often cryptic nature, require unique considerations.

What is a Latitudinal Diversity Gradient and do Fungi Demonstrate?

General pattern that diversity is highest in the tropics and decreases gradually to the poles. Mechanisms driving the diversity gradient are unclear – total productivity, age of biomes, and climate stability are possibilities.

What is the Neutral Theory of Biodiversity and What Observations?

The neutral theory of species diversity makes the provocative assumption that all individuals are ecologically identical, and that niche differences are not needed to explain biodiversity patterns.

Point 1: Fungi specialize on different hosts, even saprotrophs

Refutes Neutral Theory: Specialization indicates that fungi are not ecologically equivalent. For example, saprotrophic fungi such as Trichaptum biforme specialize on hardwoods, while T. abietinum specializes on conifers. This functional differentiation implies that deterministic factors, like substrate availability or host specificity, structure fungal communities.

Point 2: Community structure can be influenced by deterministic assembly or historical contingency

Refutes Neutral Theory: If deterministic assembly, such as environmental filtering, significantly shapes fungal community structure, species are not functionally equivalent. Historical contingency (e.g., past species colonization events) also points to non-random patterns that conflict with the neutral theory.

Point 3: Priority effects (historical contingency) are dependent on environmental conditions

Refutes Neutral Theory: Priority effects suggest that the order of species arrival and environmental conditions at the time influence community composition. This introduces non-randomness and a dependence on specific traits, which neutral theory does not account for.

Point 4: Phylogenetic diversity and not just alpha diversity matter. Diversity of AMF improves plant health through diversity of function

Refutes Neutral Theory: Phylogenetic diversity highlights the importance of evolutionary relationships and functional differences among species. If arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) diversity enhances plant health through functional diversity, it contradicts the assumption of ecological equivalence central to neutral theory.

The findings of Peay et al. showed that even though the types of fungi in a community were very different from one island to another, the functions they performed (like breaking down dead wood or recycling nutrients) were very similar. This suggests that the fungi on the islands were functionally redundant, meaning different species could do the same job. This idea matches neutral theory which says that species are ecologically equivalent.

What are the Structure Function Relationships Between Wood Decay?

Hardwood-specialized fungi (e.g., T. biforme) contribute to slower lignin degradation due to the complexity of hardwood.

Conifer-specialized fungi (e.g., T. abietinum) break down softer tissues more efficiently, promoting faster carbon turnover in conifer-dominated forests.

What are Fungi Traits that Would be Consistent with Species?

r-Selection:

1. Rapid Growth and Reproduction:
   • Fast mycelial extension rates.
   • High spore production to quickly colonize new substrates.
2. High Dispersal Potential:
   • Large quantities of small, lightweight spores that disperse widely via wind or water.
3. Opportunistic Behavior:
   • Colonize disturbed or nutrient-rich environments quickly (e.g., freshly fallen logs, agricultural fields).
   • Often pioneer species in early stages of succession.

K-Selection:

1. High Competitive Ability:
   • Outcompete other fungi for limited resources in stable environments.
   • Efficient enzymatic systems for breaking down complex substrates like lignin in wood.
2. Resource Efficiency:
   • Strong ability to tolerate nutrient-poor or low-energy environments.
3. Stable Habitat Adaptation:
   • Thrive in mature ecosystems, such as well-decayed wood or established soil fungal networks.

What is a Priority Effect and How Does it Apply to Wood Decay?

A priority effect occurs when the order of species arrival influences the community structure and the outcome of species interactions. In wood decay fungal communities, priority effects play a crucial role because fungi compete for limited resources (e.g., wood substrate), and the first colonizers can influence which fungi establish later.

Zygomycetes

Know the Zygomycete (e.g., Rhizopus) Life Cycle and Structures

Study this!

What are 3 Morphological Characteristics that Distinguish?

* Zygomycetes also produce conidia (secondary conidia)

What are the Characteristics of Glomeromycotina?

• Form arbuscular mycorrhizae with 2/3 of all plant species
• Coenocytic
• May be heterokaryotic/dikaryotic
• Produce very large spores
• Sexually produced zygospores never observed
• 230 described species

What are the 6 Subphyla and any Major Characters that Define?

a) Mucoromycota:

• Glomeromycotina, the AMF

• Mortierellomycotina, the soil dwelling chitin lovers

• Mucoromycotina, the pin molds and much more

b) Zoopagomycota:

• Entomophthoromycotina, the insect killers

• Kickxellomycotina, the dung and gut symbionts

• Zoopagomycotina, the predators

What Pheromones are Involved in Sexual Signaling in Mucorales?

Trisporic acid pheromones – mating type specific. In Mucorales (a group of fungi within the former Zygomycota), trisporic acid pheromones are central to sexual signaling. These pheromones are mating-type specific but not species-specific, as they are used across various species within Mucorales to coordinate sexual reproduction.

What is the Infection Cycle of Massaspora? What is the Advantage?

The fungus Massospora cicadina leverages a significant advantage by not killing its host immediately because it allows for enhanced spore dispersal and transmission.

What is a Secondary Conidium?

secondary conidia: produced from a primary conidium that did not form a germ tube

capilloconidia: passively discharged secondary conidium produced on very long conidiophore

Zoosporic Fungi

Know the Fungal Phylogeny Down to Phyla and the Major Characters?

Know the Life Cycle of Allomyces

Chytrid Morphological Structures and Developmental Patterns

i. Apophysis and Rhizoids

ii. Operculum

iii. Polycentric vs. monocentric

iv. Eucarpic vs. holocarpic

Holocarpic – the entire thallus of a holocarpic fungus matures into a reproductive structure called a sporangium. The fungus uses its entire body for reproduction.

Eucarpic – the thallus of a eucarpic fungus is differentiated into vegetative and reproductive structures.

v. Endogenous vs. exogenous development

Cryptomycota/Rozellomycota, Aphelidiomycota, What is Unusual?

These feeding strategies are unusual because they lack a chitinous cell wall and rely on phagotrophy, a behavior more typical of protists than fungi.

What Characteristics are Similar Between Rozellomycota and Microsporidia?

• Both Rozellomycota and Microsporidia are primarily obligate parasites, meaning they depend on a host to complete their life cycle.
• In their feeding (trophic) stage, both groups lack a chitinous cell wall, which is unusual for fungi

What Animals are Effected by Chytridiomycosis and What Might Lead?

Chytridiomycosis affects a wide range of amphibians, with frogs and salamanders being the most impacted. Variation in susceptibility across species arises from factors such as immune defenses, skin traits, environmental conditions, and the microbiome. Amphibians in cooler, aquatic environments or those with weak immune responses are at higher risk, while adaptations like antifungal peptides and protective microbiomes provide resilience.

Pseudo-Fungi

Which Organisms are Pseudo-Fungi?

Oomycetes, Myxomycetes, Plasmodiophorids, Dictyostelids

What Characteristics Distinguish Them from True Fungi?

What are the General Characteristics of Myxomycetes?

What are the Life Cycles of Myxomycota and Oomycota?

Why are Amoebae in Dictyostelium Considered Social?

Amoebae in Dictyostelium are considered social because they aggregate, cooperate, and divide labor to form multicellular structures (sorocarps), displaying altruistic behaviors that benefit the group as a whole.

Fungi in Food, Industry, and Forensics

What are the Various Uses of Fungi in Food and Beverage?

1. Fermentation (Alcohol and Bread Production)
   • Alcoholic Beverages:
     • Beer/Wine/Spirits: Fermentation is carried out by Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which produces ethanol and CO₂.
     • Rice Wine: Includes Mucor, Rhizopus, and Amylomyces rouxii.
   • Bread Making:
     • Saccharomyces cerevisiae is also used for bread fermentation, producing CO₂ to leaven dough.
2. Cheese Production
   • Brie Cheese: Penicillium candidum creates the white rind and imparts a creamy texture.
   • Blue Cheese: Penicillium roquefortii is responsible for the blue veins and distinctive flavor.
3. Soy Sauce and Miso Production
   • Soy Sauce
     • Fungi like Aspergillus oryzae and yeasts (Zygosaccharomyces, Hansenula anomala) are used to ferment soybeans.
   • Miso
     • Aspergillus oryzae and Zygosaccharomyces rouxii are key fermenters.
4. Other Fermented Foods
   • Tempeh: Fermented soybeans using Rhizopus oligosporus (a Zygomycete).
   • Furu/Sufu (Chinese Cheese): Fermented tofu made with Actinomucor elegans (another Zygomycete).
   • Kombucha: Fermented tea using a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY).
5. Edible Mushrooms
   • Cultivated Mushrooms:
     • Button Mushroom: Agaricus bisporus.
     • Oyster Mushrooms: Pleurotus spp.
     • Shiitake: Lentinula edodes.
     • Enokitake: Flammulina velutipes.
   • Wild Mushrooms:
     • Black Truffles: Tuber melanosporum.
     • Morels: Morchella spp..
     • Porcini: Boletus edulis.

What Fungi Produce Ethanol, Why do They do it, What is the Tradeoff?

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the primary species involved in EtOH/CO2 production in the making of wine, beer, spirits, breads, and biofuel. Saccharomyces cerevisiae makes ethanol as a byproduct of its anaerobic fermentation process, which is a strategy evolved to generate energy under oxygen-limited conditions. Ethanol fermentation produces only 2 ATP per glucose molecule compared to up to 36 ATP per glucose during aerobic respiration. Ethanol production inhibits other microorganisms, including bacteria and less ethanol-tolerant fungi, giving S. cerevisiae a significant competitive advantage. This dominance can lead to reduced fungal diversity in sugary environments, as S. cerevisiae becomes the dominant species.

How is Beer and Soysauce Made?

How are Button Mushrooms Farmed and Why Does Being a Secondary?

Button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus) are farmed using methods tailored to their role as secondary decomposers, meaning they grow on partially decomposed organic matter. This contrasts with shiitake mushrooms (Lentinula edodes), which are primary decomposers and grow on fresh wood.

What is the Process of Saccharification and Why is it Fundamental?

Major Globally Consumed Mushrooms and Their Nutritional Value

How can Fungi be Used in Forensic Science?

Spores on a suspect’s clothing, shoes, or tools can match those from a crime scene, linking the suspect to that location.

Mycoses and Toxins

What are Opportunistic Fungal Infections and Why are They on the Rise?

Opportunistic fungal infections are on the rise due to suppressed immune systems.

What is the Difference Between Environmentally Acquired Versus?

What is Meant by Accidental Virulence?

Accidental virulence refers to a scenario where an organism that does not typically rely on a host for survival or reproduction becomes pathogenic under certain conditions, often unintentionally.

What are the Most Deadly Mushroom Poisons and in Which Species?

Which Organisms Produce Mycotoxins and What is the Consequence?

How Does the Damage Response Framework of Casadevall and Pirofski?

The Damage Response Framework depends heavily on the host immune response to explain why the same microbe can cause varied outcomes. The framework underscores that damage results from an interplay between the microbe’s characteristics and the host’s immune system, with outcomes ranging from protection to immune-mediated harm. It shifts the focus from pathogen-centric to host-pathogen interaction in understanding disease.

What is a Dual Use Virulence Factor?

Dual-use virulence factors are traits that fungi originally evolved to survive in their environmental niches but also enable them to infect and cause damage in humans. These traits confer advantages in hostile environmental conditions, and inadvertently, they provide mechanisms to overcome the challenges posed by the human immune system and physiology

Biodiversity and Geological History

What are Estimates of Numbers of Total Species, How are They Derived?

How are Fungal Fossils Used to Calibrate the Molecular Clock?

Why are There so Few Described Species Compared to the Estimates?

Herbarium

What is a Type Specimen?

A type specimen in an herbarium is the reference specimen upon which the scientific name and formal description of a species are based. It serves as the definitive example for that species, ensuring consistency and accuracy in taxonomy.

What are Taxonomic Synonyms and How Does Priority Work?

Taxonomic synonyms are different scientific names that refer to the same species or taxon. These synonyms arise when a species is described multiple times by different researchers, often due to:

• Discovery of the same organism in different locations or conditions.
• Misidentification or differences in interpretation of morphological or genetic features.
• Changes in the understanding of a species’ classification over time.

Priority: The first validly published name is the accepted name

Essay

In H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds, Earth’s microbes save humanity by defeating the Martian invaders, who, despite their technological superiority, succumb to pathogens for which they have no immunity. The Martians’ downfall highlights the power of microscopic organisms and the critical role of evolutionary adaptation in survival. This same principle is observed in modern fungal pandemics and panzootics, such as chytridiomycosis, a deadly disease caused by the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), which has devastated global amphibian populations. Frogs and salamanders, in particular, are highly impacted, and their varying susceptibility to Bd reflects how host traits, environmental factors, and microbial interactions influence disease outcomes. To better understand this dynamic, scientists can design experiments to identify protective traits and develop strategies to combat the spread of Bd.

The global spread of chytridiomycosis has revealed that amphibian susceptibility depends on multiple factors, including immune defenses, skin traits, microbiomes, and environmental conditions. Amphibians in cooler, aquatic environments are at greater risk because Bd thrives in these conditions. Additionally, species with weak immune responses or less protective skin traits are highly vulnerable. However, some amphibians exhibit adaptations that enhance resilience, such as antifungal peptides produced on their skin or beneficial microbes in their skin microbiome, which inhibit fungal growth. These natural defenses mirror the idea in Wells’ novel that hosts with greater biological preparation can survive microbial threats, while those without defenses perish.

To explore how these factors affect chytridiomycosis outcomes, an experiment can be designed to test the hypothesis: Amphibians with intact skin microbiomes and antifungal peptides are less susceptible to Bd infection compared to those without these defenses. The experiment would involve selecting two amphibian species—one known to be highly susceptible to Bd and another more resilient species. Each species would be divided into three groups: a control group unexposed to Bd, a group exposed to Bd after having their microbiomes disrupted with antibiotics, and a group exposed to Bd with their microbiomes intact. All groups would be maintained under controlled environmental conditions, including temperature and humidity, to replicate their natural habitats.

During the experiment, infection loads would be monitored using quantitative PCR to measure fungal growth on the skin, and health indicators such as behavior, lethargy, and mortality rates would be recorded. Additionally, antifungal peptide activity and the composition of skin microbiomes would be analyzed using sequencing techniques. Comparing the outcomes between groups would reveal whether intact microbiomes and antifungal peptides confer resistance to Bd.

This experiment directly ties back to The War of the Worlds by emphasizing the role of biological defenses in host survival. Just as the Martians lacked immunity to Earth’s microbes and succumbed to infection, amphibians without protective traits or adaptations are highly vulnerable to Bd. Understanding these factors allows scientists to develop targeted interventions, such as probiotics containing beneficial microbes or conservation strategies that protect at-risk species and their habitats.

Reproductive Structures

• Zoosporangium: A sporangium (spore-producing structure) that produces zoospores, which are motile spores with flagella, found in fungi like Chytridiomycota.
• Oogonium: A female gametangium (gamete-producing structure) that produces oospheres or eggs, characteristic of Oomycota.
• Oospore: A thick-walled, fertilized zygote that results from the fusion of gametes in Oomycota. It serves as a resting spore during unfavorable conditions.
• Antheridium: A male gametangium that produces sperm cells or nuclei for fertilization. Found in Oomycota and some fungi.
• Gametangium: A structure where gametes are produced; can be male (antheridium) or female (oogonium).
• Sclerotium: A hardened, dormant mass of fungal mycelium capable of surviving adverse conditions.
• Merosporangium: A type of sporangium divided into several chambers, each producing spores, seen in Kickxellomycotina.
• Sporangiolum: A small, specialized sporangium that produces a limited number of spores in fungi such as Zygomycetes.
• Gametophyte: The haploid phase of an organism’s life cycle that produces gametes.
• Sporophyte: The diploid phase of an organism’s life cycle that produces spores via meiosis.
• Zygosporangium: A thick-walled, resistant sporangium that forms during sexual reproduction in Zygomycetes, containing a zygospore.
• Suspensors: Structures that support the developing zygosporangium during sexual reproduction in Zygomycetes.
• Apophysis: A swelling or expanded part of a sporangium or hyphal structure, seen in fungi such as Zygomycetes.
• Operculum: A lid-like structure on certain sporangia that opens to release spores, common in mosses and some fungi.
• Secondary conidium: A conidium (asexual spore) produced from a primary conidium, involved in some fungi’s life cycles.
• Capilloconidium: A specialized conidium borne on capillary-like structures in certain fungi.

Vegetative Structures

• Rhizines: Root-like structures in lichens that anchor the lichen thallus to the substrate.
• Cephalodium: A small, gall-like structure in lichens that houses cyanobacteria for nitrogen fixation.
• Lichen Thallus Forms:
  • Fruticose: Shrubby or branched lichen forms.
  • Crustose: Crust-like lichens that tightly adhere to substrates.
  • Foliose: Leaf-like lichens with lobed structures.
• Rhizoids: Root-like structures in fungi and mosses that help with anchoring and absorption.
• Plasmodium: A multinucleate, amoeboid, and motile stage of Myxomycetes (acellular slime molds).
• Myxamoebae: Amoeboid cells of slime molds that feed and divide before aggregating into a plasmodium.
• Arbuscule: A branched, tree-like structure formed inside root cells by Glomeromycotina fungi for nutrient exchange (arbuscular mycorrhiza).
• Gongylidia: Specialized, swollen hyphal cells produced by fungi in Attini ant-fungus mutualisms as a food source for ants.
• Mycangia: Specialized structures in insects that carry fungal spores for symbiotic relationships.

Taxonomic and Informal Names

• Chytridiomycota: A phylum of fungi characterized by producing motile, flagellated zoospores.

• Zygomycetes: A group of fungi producing zygospores through sexual reproduction, now split into several subphyla.

• Blastocladiomycota: A group of fungi with flagellated spores, often found in aquatic environments.

• Microsporidia: A group of unicellular, obligate intracellular parasites that lack mitochondria and infect animals, including humans.

• Oomycota: Water molds resembling fungi but classified as Stramenopiles; they produce oospores and exhibit filamentous growth.

• Myxomycetes (Acellular Slime Molds): A group of slime molds forming plasmodial, multinucleate stages.

• Dictyostelids (Cellular Slime Molds): Slime molds that aggregate as individual amoeboid cells to form multicellular structures.

• Glomeromycotina: Fungi that form arbuscular mycorrhizae with plant roots, aiding in nutrient exchange.

• Mortierellomycotina: A group of early-diverging fungi with saprophytic lifestyles, often found in soil.

• Zoopagomycota: Fungi that are parasites or predators of small animals and other fungi.

• Entomophthoromycotina: A subgroup of Zoopagomycota, consisting of insect-pathogenic fungi.

• Kickxellomycotina: Fungi producing merosporangia, with diverse lifestyles including saprophytes and symbionts.

• Neocallimastigomycota: Anaerobic, flagellated fungi found in the guts of herbivorous mammals, aiding in cellulose digestion.

• Monoblepharidomycota: Aquatic fungi that produce motile zoospores with a single flagellum.

• Cryptomycota/Rozellomycota: A basal fungal group consisting of unicellular, spore-producing organisms.

• Aphelidiomycota: A group of intracellular parasites of algae.

• Olpidium: A genus of chytrid fungi that are plant pathogens and vectors for viruses.

• Massospora: A genus of entomopathogenic fungi that infect cicadas, causing behavioral changes and spore production.

What is the scientific name for chicken of the woods?

Laetiporus sulphureus