General characteristics of fungi

1. General characteristics of fungi
Sankrita Gaonkar
Assistant Professor in Botany
sankrita002@gmail.com

2. Contents
• General characteristics of fungi
• References

3. General characters of fungi:
• Thallus
• Body of fungus
• Vegetative phase of fungus
• Consists of tubular filaments called hyphae (sing. Hypha)
• Mass of hyphae – mycelium (pl. mycelia)
• A) Unicellular thallus
• B) Filamentous thallus

4. A) Unicellular thallus
• Chytrids – thallus is spherical and single-celled – becomes reproductive
unit (asexual or sexual cells) during reproduction  Holocarpic
• Plasmodiophora – vegetative phase – naked, multinucleate, amoeboid mass
of protoplasm – Plasmodium (cleaves to form resting spores).
Yeast cells

5. B) Filamentous thallus
• Originates through germination of spore
• Spore on germination produces hypha – forms fluffy thallus of long filaments
– hyphae
• At maturity, some hyphae extend into air and form reproductive bodies
• Hyphae spread on substratum – Eucarpic
• Vegetative body formed collectively by hyphae - mycelium
Mycelium

6. • Types of mycelia
• i) Aseptate mycelium
• Lack internal partitions
• Multinucleate - coenocytic
• ii) Septate mycelium
• Develop internal partitions – septa
• Uninucleate or multinucleate
Septate mycelium
Aseptate mycelium

7. • Modifications of hyphae
i) Plectenchyma – false tissue of hyphal aggregation
• a) Prosenchyma – loosely woven tissue of hyphae
• b) Pseudoparenchyma – compact mass of interwoven hyphae formed during
fructification
ii) Rhizomorph – root-like aggregation of somatic hyphae
iii) Sclerotium – compact globose or elongated structure formed by hyphal
aggregation
Rhizomorph

8. iv) Stromata (sing. stroma) – fungal tissue forming reproductive structures
v) Pseudosclerotium – sclerotia-like bodies formed at the base of fruiting bodies
vi) Appressorium – swollen structure of germtube
vii) Haustorium – intracellular absorbing structures

9. Modes of nutrition
1) Saprophytes or saprobes – absorb nutrients through
cell membrane from substratum (dead organic
matter – animal or plant)
2) Parasites – live in or on living body of a plant or
animal and absorb nutrients through cell walls from
host tissue. Eg. Rusts, smuts
Reproduction – vegetative, asexual and sexual
Infection by fungal parasite
Saprophytic fungi

10. References
• Vashishta B.R., Sinha A.K. and Singh V.P. 2012. Botany for
degree students: Algae. S. Chand & company ltd.