University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Fungi are a diverse group of saprotrophic eukaryotic organisms with cell walls containing chitin. They can be unicellular or multicellular, with some forms (such as yeasts and reproductive spores) being microscopic, while others are large and conspicuous.

Fungi

Fungus


A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source.

The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi (Basidiomycota, Agaricomycetes) that have a stem (stipe), a cap (pileus), and gills (lamellae, sing. lamella) on the underside of the cap.

Mushroom

Mycology

- Hyphae
- Pseudophyphae
- Dimorphic Fungi
-  Chitin

Physical Characteristics of Different Fungi

Fungi can reproduce both sexually and asexually. The specific reproductive types and mechanisms they employ are key characteristics used to distinguish different fungal groups.

Reproduction of Fungi

Fungi is a diverse kingdom that can be broken down into seven phyla:
- Ascomycota
- Basidiomycota
- Blastocladiomycota
- Chytridiomycota
- Glomeromycota
- Microsporidia
- Neocallimastigomycota

Fungal Diversity 

Yeasts are a type of unicellular fungi that are included in the study of microbiology. There are over $${}1000$$ known species that exist in a wide variety of environments, ranging from the deep sea to the human body. While some yeasts have beneficial applications, such as causing bread to rise and facilitating beverage fermentation, they can also cause food spoilage and lead to human diseases, such as oral thrush and vaginal yeast infections.

Yeasts

Molds are multicellular fungi consisting of long filaments that combine to form visible colonies. They are ubiquitous in diverse environments, such as soil, rotting food, and damp indoor spaces, and they serve an essential ecological role in decomposing dead plants and animals. While some molds can cause allergies or produce disease-causing metabolites called mycotoxins, others have critical pharmaceutical uses, such as the production of the antibiotic penicillin and the immunosuppressant cyclosporine used to prevent organ rejection.

Molds

Fungi play vital roles as environmental decomposers and are critical for the production of certain foods, such as cheeses.

Human and Ecological Importance of Fungi

Fungi are included in the field of microbiology because, despite the existence of macroscopic structures like mushrooms and molds, many unicellular yeasts and the reproductive spores of macroscopic fungi are microscopic.

Fungi in Microbiology

Fungi have significant medical relevance; while some pathogenic species cause mycoses, others are opportunistic pathogens that lead to infections primarily when the host's immune system is compromised. Conversely, fungi are also medically beneficial as major sources of antibiotics, such as penicillin.

Medical Relevance of Fungi

Urediniomycetes is a class of fungi that includes plant rusts, which form reddish masses on plants and can cause significant economic damage by reducing crop yields.

Urediniomycetes

Ustilagomycetes is a class of fungi that includes plant smuts, which form dark masses on plants and can cause substantial economic loss by reducing crop yields.

Ustilagomycetes

Lichens are symbiotic associations between a fungus and a photosynthetic partner, which can be either an alga or a cyanobacterium. They are characteristically slow-growing organisms that can survive for centuries in a variety of habitats.

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