Fungus Fact Friday

Tagged: morphology

#122: Sphaerobolus stellatus, the Artillery Fungus [Archived] 2

Archived

#122: Sphaerobolus stellatus, the Artillery Fungus [Archived]

Note: this is an archived post. You can read the current version of this post here. Happy New Year! To celebrate, I decided to use some fungal cannon fire to start 2016 off with a bang!  Although it is tiny, Sphaerobolus stellatus gets just about as close as a fungus can to actually being a firework.  The tiny, star-shaped fruiting bodies are designed to launch a spherical sac of spores high into the air.  This unique spore dispersal strategy has resulted in a variety of common names, including: “Artillery Fungus,” “Cannonball Fungus,” “Cannon Fungus,” “Sphere Thrower” (which is a literal translation of its Latin name), “Shotgun Fungus,” “Shooting Star,” and “Bombardier Fungus.”

#077: Ericaceous Mycorrhizae 0

Fungus Fact

#077: Ericaceous Mycorrhizae

Many plants in the order Ericales (which includes blueberries, rhododendrons, heaths, heathers, tea, and Brazil nut) form unique mycorrhizae. These plants are frequently found living in harsh conditions, like acidic or highly acidic soil.  Their aptitude for these types of habitats is likely due to their unique mycorrhizae.  There are actually three types of mycorrhizae formed by these plants: ericoid, arbutoid, and monotropoid.

#076: Orchid Mycorrhizae 0

Fungus Fact

#076: Orchid Mycorrhizae

Orchid seeds do not contain sugars, so the seeds take sugars from a mycorrhizal fungus. All orchids are parasitic on fungi while they are seedlings.  Because of this unusual relationship, orchids form unique mycorrhizae that differ from both ecto- and arbuscular mycorrhizae.

#075: Ectomycorrhizae 4

Fungus Fact

#075: Ectomycorrhizae

Ectomycorrhizae are mutualistic relationships formed between trees and fungal species in both the Ascomycota and Basidiomycota. The main difference between ectomycorrhizae (abbreviated EM or ECM) and arbuscular mycorrhizae (discussed last week) is that in ectomycorrhizae the fungus never penetrates the host plant’s cells.

#074: Arbuscular Mycorrhizae 3

Fungus Fact

#074: Arbuscular Mycorrhizae

Arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM) are the most abundant type of mycorrhizae on earth. In AM, fungi from the phylum Glomeromycota (FFF#015) penetrate plant root cells and grow arbuscules (tree-shaped structures designed to facilitate nutrient exchange).

#073: Overview of Mycorrhizae 2

Fungus Fact

#073: Overview of Mycorrhizae

Generally speaking, mycorrhizae are mutualistic interactions between the hyphae of a fungus and the roots of a plant. In most cases, the plant gives the fungus sugars in exchange for hard-to-get nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorous.  Although there are exceptions to these rules, fungi that are described as “mycorrhizal” usually in the manner described above.

#062: Overview of Lichens, Part 1: Biology and Morphology 3

Fungus Fact

#062: Overview of Lichens, Part 1: Biology and Morphology

Lichens are composite organisms made up of two mutualistic, unrelated species: a photosynthetic organism and a fungus. I find that most people don’t really understand what lichens are, and that’s not surprising, considering the definition above.  OK, so we’re all familiar with lichens: the green/grey/orange/brown crusts that form on sidewalks/trees/rocks/etc.  But what, exactly, are they?  Most people would probably classify them as plants or, more specifically, as mosses.  This would seem reasonable, as they are often found growing alongside mosses and in other similar habitats.  However, this is not the case at all.  Lichens are actually composed of two or more separate species growing together as one organism.  This unusual type of organism is known as a “composite organism.”  Lichens always include one fungal partner (the mycobiont) and at least one photosynthetic partner (the photopiont).  The photobiont can be a green alga (kingdom Plantae) or a cyanobacterium (a.k.a. blue-green alga,...

#054: Oomycota (Water Molds and Downy Mildews) 1

Fungus Fact / That's Not A Fungus!

#054: Oomycota (Water Molds and Downy Mildews)

The Oomycota (literally “egg fungi”) are remarkable organisms because they mimic fungi on a cellular level. They are heterotrophic (get energy from their surroundings) organisms, exhibit filamentous growth, digest their substrate before absorbing it, and produce sexual and asexual spores.  For these reasons, the Oomycota were once classified as fungi.  They have since been removed from Kingdom Fungi and placed in Kingdom Protista, Chromista, Straminopila, or whatever name it’s going by today.  That means it is most closely related to diatoms and brown algae (like kelp).  At first this does not seem like a logical grouping because most of these organisms are autotrophic (make their own food).  However, there are a few characteristics of the Oomycota that make them more similar to protists than to fungi.  For one, the Oomycota have cell walls composed of cellulose, glycan, and similar molecules.  Second, they primarily live as diploids (two copies of each...

#053: Slime Molds 6

Fungus Fact / That's Not A Fungus!

#053: Slime Molds

On this first anniversary of Fungus Fact Friday, I would like to introduce a new topic which I have labeled, “That’s Not a Fungus!” Kingdom Fungi has gone through a lot of changes over the years.  Many organisms that were once included in the kingdom have since been exiled.  There are two reasons why I think these organisms are worth discussing in FFF.  First, they were once studied by mycologists, in some cases contributing more to our understanding of fungi than the fungi themselves.  Second, it is important to know what a fungus is as well as what a fungus is not.  Slime molds are no longer considered fungi because really the only things those two groups have in common are a similar life cycle and “strange” fruiting bodies.  Slime molds do not have cell walls and grow as neither hyphae nor yeast.  They also engulf (phagocytose) their food before...

#048: Mushroom Morphology: Jelly Fungi 0

Fungus Fact

#048: Mushroom Morphology: Jelly Fungi

As you might guess, jelly fungi are distinguished by their gelatinous consistency. Their external appearance varies widely, so their texture is the only macroscopic feature that defines this group.  These fungi are placed within the phylum Basidiomycota, but they produce basidia (spore-bearing structures) unlike those of most other basidiomycetes (for more on basidia see FFF#013).  Because of this, they are often placed in the artificial group of fungi called heterobasidiomycetes.  The heterobasidiomycetes also include rusts and smuts, which do not form mushrooms.  Jelly fungi produce three different variations on the normal basidium (holobasidium) morphology.  Holobasidia have a bulbous, undivided base topped with spore-bearing steritmata.  The first variaition on this model is the cruciate basidium.  Cruciate basidia have a bulbous base divided into four cells by septa (cell walls).  The septa are at right angles to one another, making a cross shape when the basidium is viewed from above.  A good...