Apologia Biology Module#4

ALWAYS:  

• know that when you see the word 'read' you can access the audio version on Audible on the iPod nano
• have your book open as you listen to the module on Audible so that you can see the illustrations etc. and so you know when/where to stop 
• Read each section and do the OYO as you get to them.  Do not continue reading (listening) until you have completed the OYO questions and checked your answers against those at the end of the module. 
• Spend 5-15 minutes on Quizlet to work on the vocabulary words for each section and the previous section's words as you complete each reading assignment.
• complete the study guide for each module
• if you don't understand a concept/section/topic go to the bottom of this post and check the 'extra help' links.  If something is very interesting to you, check the 'interesting links' section for that module at the bottom of this post.  

Module #4 - Kingdom Fungi

Module #4

 Microscope
 Slides
 Coverslips
 Eyedropper
 Methylene blue
 Camembert cheese (available at large supermarkets)
 Roquefort cheese (available at large supermarkets)
 Water
 Magnifying glass  ( we will go mushroom hunting in the fall & complete this experiment then) 
 Needle (or probe from your dissection kit)
 Mushrooms
 Puffballs
 Shelf fungi
 Gloves
 Packet of active dry yeast (can be purchased at a grocery store)
 Tablespoon
 Measuring cup
 Glass that holds at least 2 cups of water
 Sugar
 Bread, jelly, and/or fruit mold (Only one specimen is necessary, but if you observe more than one specimen, you will learn more!)
 Knife

Day 1 TOTAL READING 97-103

There's a fungus among us!  =) 
* Start growing mold on jelly, bread or fruit now for experiment on 8/5

(1) p. 97-101a, General Characteristics of Fungi
Although mushrooms are the most common fungi, there are many other kinds as well.  Some fungi are pathogenic (disease-causing), but there are also helpful fungi:  some fungi are used in making cheese, others are used in baking, and even some in medicine.

Most fungi are multicellular; a few are single-celled.  But whether multicellular or unicellular, their cells are all eukaryotes (each cell having membrane-bound organelles, each organelle performing a particular job).  Their cells usually have many nuclei.

Most of the organisms in this kingdom are heterotrophs (can't make their own food).
Some of these heterotrophic fungi are parasitic (feed on living matter), but most are saprophytic(feed on dead matter).  The saprophytic fungi are decomposers that promote the decay of once-living matter.  Otherwise, leaves would pile up each fall year after year, not to mention dead animals, and other things that decompose.
►(Listen or Read this 2-minute Creation Moment with Ian Taylor)

Saprophytic or parasitic, they both digest their food outside of their bodies.  They secrete a chemical onto the food that digests the food before it is ingested (eaten).  The digested food is then absorbed into the cell of the fungus.

Extracellular (outside the cell) digestion can be beneficial to other organisms that can often absorb some of the nutrients before the fungus has a chance to absorb them.
♦Read How Fungi Get their Food

In addition to other various means of reproduction, the one means of reproduction all fungi have in common is by making spores.
Most fungi are multicellular, and will grow a specialized structure for that particular type of fungus for the purpose of producing spores.
For example, a mushroom has basidia on which their basidiospores form. (see image)  
A spore print (see image) can be made by laying a mushroom cap on paper for several hours or overnight, covered by a bowl or jar to prevent air currents from disturbing the spores.

Here is a video of a puffball mushroom's spores.  Its spores can be harmful if breathed in. They have a hole in the top and the spores puff out like smoke from a chimney.  =) 

The general structure of a mushroom is easy to see.  There is the cap, which has the gillsunderneath (where the spores grow), and the stalk which is called the stipe.
This is all called the fruiting body. (see image)

What is not seen is actually the most amazing.  Some may not realize a mushroom's main structure is underground.

This underground root-like structure is called the mycelium (my see' lee um). (see image)
It kind of looks like a whole bunch of tangled roots.
It typically is ten to twenty times larger than its stalk, but I've read that it can be as large as a soccer field!  
The mycelium are not roots.
It does not pull nutrients and water from the soil (like roots do) to be transported to the rest of the plant because the mycelium is the main part of the plant.  The mushroom's stalk and cap exist only at a certain stage, and are just an extension of the fungus's main body - the mycelium. 
If you think about the fruit on a vine or tree, you can easily understand that the fruiting body is just something that grows periodically from the mycelium. 

The mycelium is composed of many interwoven filaments called hypha (hi' fuh).
►See image of septate and non-septate hyphae. (source)

There are septate hypha that have individual cells separated from one another by cell walls.  There is usually a pore (opening) through which cytoplasm can be passed between cells.  
Nonseptate hypha looks like one long cell.  There are no walls.
Both types of hyphae (hi' fee) have nuclei which are represented by the dark spots in the hyphae.

Remember that protists and monerans have cells that group together in colonies, but the cells do not exchange cytoplasm.  Plants and animals are multicellular, but their individual cells are completely separate and do not exchange cytoplasm.
But in kingdom Fungi, the cells are not completely separate.


In the video, she says coenocytic threads.  This is the same as nonseptate.

There are many different hyphae that perform different tasks.  If a hypha is part of the mycelium (the part that grows below the soil), it is called a rhizoid hypha. 
The job of rhizoid hyphae is to support the fungus and digest the food.  These hyphae are considered the main body of the fungus.

An aerial hypha is not embedded in the main body of the fungus, and as its name implies, it sticks up in the air.  It looks like a stem.
Aerial hyphae can do one of three things:
(1) absorb oxygen from the air
(2) produce spores
(3) asexually reproduce to form new filaments (hyphae)

♦If an aerial hypha asexually reproduces more hyphae, it is called a stolon (see image) -- a runner that grows along the ground, producing more offspring.
♦If an aerial hypha produces spores, it is specified as a sporophore.

Sporophores can be:
(A) a sporangiophore (see image) if its spores are formed within an enclosusre,
(B) a conidiophore (see image) if the sporophore's spores are not formed within an enclosure.
►(Source of images - scroll up)

►(Something silly to help you remember: 
"Angie" will form spores in an enclosure.  A con who is an idiot will not form spores in an enclosure.)I did warn you it was silly!  lol.
Not all fungi have all these structures, however.

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

Bread Mold

If a fungus feeds on a living organism, a hypha can actually enter the cells of the living organism and draw nutrients directly from the cytoplasm of the living organism's cells.  This kind of hypha is anextension of the mycelium and is called a haustorium (haw stor' ee uhm) (see image, source)
Since it feeds on a living host, this kind of fungus is parasitic.

Now that you are more familiar with the terminology, watch this video of how fungi obtain food.Listen for the different kinds of symbiosis that you learned in Module 3.

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(2) p. 101, Reproduction in Kingdom Fungi
►All fungi reproduce by making spores.  Some fungi also reproduce in other ways, as well.
♦The sexual reproduction involves structures called fruiting bodies, as a result of compatible hyphae.
Once the fruiting body is formed, it grows out of the mycelium and releases its spores.  The mushroom is just part of the fruiting body of the mycelium of a type of fungus.
♦Some sexual reproduction does not lead to a fruiting body; it just produces a new hypha.

Time lapse of a fruiting body: 
Psilocybe cubensis 


Amanita muscaria



♦Asexual spore formation is accomplished by a hypha that becomes either a sporangiophore or a conidiophore.
♦There are other means of asexual reproduction that does not involve spores.  These involve hyphae cells in the mycelium that cause the mycelium to grow.  Also the cells within a stolon will reproduce asexually, causing the stolon to grow.  The stolon will reproduce into hyphae that will form a new mycelium of a new fungus.  This is repeated, often causing long chains of fungi, all linked together by stolons.



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(3) p. 102, Classification in Kingdom Fungi
There are six phyla in kingdom Fungi, and as I read these and sounded out the pronunciations, I kept seeing "mycota" on the end.  My coat...  And then more words came into my mind.
►Here are some silly phrases to help you remember the phyla in the kingdom Fungi:
Basidiomycota (buh sid' ee oh my koh' tuh)  Like a bus city o(n) my coat.
Ascomycota (ask' uh my koh' tuh)  Ask-a my coat!
Zygomycota (zye' goh my koh' tuh)  Zygo, my coat.  (Who names their coat?)
Chytridiomycota (kye trid' ee oh my koh' tuh)  Kye tridd-y o(n) my coat. 
Deuteromycota (doo' ter oh my koh' tuh)  Dude, yer o(n) my coat!  (my favorite one)
Myxomycota (myk' so my koh' tuh)  Mike, sew my coat.  (He'd have to after all the people who have been on it, even a city of buses!)
I added the pronunciation marks the way the man pronounces it on the multimedia CD, which is different than the way it is written in your text book.  However, just practicing and getting familiar with one way of pronouncing these is more important than which pronunciation you choose. 



After practicing the pronunciations so you will recognize them, sometimes pronounced a little differently in this video, watch this overview of kingdom Fungi.
Part 1 Skip up to 0:50. 


Part 2 Ignore the part near the end about evolution. =(

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Day 2 TOTAL read 103-108 do ex. 4.1

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=x2eGrzECjYI
Wheat Rust


►Another video on wheat rust.


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

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Day 3 read 109-112 do ex. 4.2

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 inprotective 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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Day 4 read 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

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Day 5 TOTAL READING 115-117

 p. 115
Phylum Chytridiomycota (kye trid' ee oh my koh' tuh)
Remember this silly phrase, Kye tridd-y o(n) my coat.     

Ewwwww!!! This next phylum looks gross.  Just look at these potatoes!  (scroll down)
This fungi is definitely a parasite, and apparently can exist in the soil for quite some time.   But according to Apologia Biology, "However, most commercial potatoes grown today are resistant to this fungus."
Thank goodness. 

This is commonly known as potato wart, caused by a parasitic chytrid called Synchytrium endobioticum. 
Phylum Chytridiomycota contains the single-celled fungi called chytrids (kye' trids).
Chytrids live in areas that are muddy or watery.  Some species are parasitic like the one above, but most are saprophytic, and feed on decaying water plants.
These are different than other fungi in that they don't have spores to be carried by the wind or other means.
Instead they have flagella, and can move on their own.

(2) p. 115-116 
Phylum Deuteromycota (doo' ter oh my koh' tuh) - The Imperfect Fungi 
Dude, yer o(n) my coat!  (my favorite one)  

Since most scientists assume that every fungus has some phase of sexual reproduction, if a fungus cannot actually be determined to have sexual reproduction, it is placed in this "phylum" until it can be better classified.  It is "on hold" I guess.  =)  That is why they are often called the imperfect fungi.
This may be faulty reasoning, since there may be some who only reproduce asexually.  These will forever be "on hold" while they go on and do exactly as God designed them to anyway!  =)
One such very useful "imperfect" fungi actually is quite perfect for what God designed it to do.  This fungi comes from a blue mold from the genus Penicillium.
In 1928, Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, the first antibiotic.


Other members of the genus Penicillium are useful because they flavor certain kinds of cheese.  These are not the same species as the one that produces penicillin; they are just in the same genus.




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Day 6   read 117-119 do ex. 4.3 & 4.4

Phylum Myxomycota (myk' so my koh' tuh)  Mike, sew my coat.   
This is another controversial phylum.  Most modern textbooks place phylum Myxomycota in kingdom Protista.  Apologia chose to leave it in its traditional place, kingdom Fungi.  Rather than categorize it in kingdom Protista because of the way it feeds, they consider reproduction a better reason to categorize it in kingdom Fungi.
This fungi is saprophytic and is harmless, but it looks gross!  They are typically called slime molds.  
This first video has no gross pictures, so relax and watch.  =)

This second video may appear gross, but actually, it looks a little like gel.  Like that homemade slime that kids like to play with.  I made some blue slime once for my nieces and nephews.
They played with it at my house and did not take it home.
The mothers were happy.  =)
Around 20 seconds or so, this slime mold starts to look like little fingers branching out. 

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Day 7 read 119-120
p. 119-120 Symbiosis in Kingdom Fungi
There are two different forms of symbiosis in kingdom Fungi.
Both of these forms of symbiosis are mutualistic. (Both members of the symbiotic relationship benefit from their relationship.)

(A) Lichens (lie'-kuns, not lich-ens) are produced by a mutualistic relationship between a fungus and an algae.  (See images of lichens)
The fungus is usually of phylum Ascomycota (p. 109), and the algae is usually of phylum Chlorophyta. (p. 86).
Lichens are produced when the algae, by means of photosynthesis, produces food for itself and the fungus.  The fungus supports and protects the algae.

(B) The second form of mutualisitic symbiosis in kingdom fungi is called a mycorrhiza (my' kuh rye' zuh) or a "fungus root."
In a mycorrhiza or "fungus root" relationship, the fungus absorbs nutrients from the roots, and in return, the fungus gives the plant needed minerals.

Day 8  complete study guide

Day 9 study and turn in lab book

      take module #4 test

Links for Module #4

Interesting links related to Module #4

Fungus Opera

A wonderful microscopic video of a fungus releasing its spores - set to operatic music.

BioArt -- Basidiomycetes

Wonderful photography of different fungi found in phylum Basidiomycota.

Basidiomycetes: Subdivision Basidiomycotina - The Club Fungi

Very interesting summary page about this phylum.Contains evolutionary content in supporting links.

BioArt -- Ascomycetes

Wonderful photography of different fungi found in phylum Ascomycota.

Fungi Perfecti LLC

Wonderful mushroom resource page which includes images, links, and recipes.Numerous mushroom related articles are linked to this page.

Bird’s Nest Fungi

Bird’s Nest Fungi are cup-shaped, and contain a number of small, hard, lentil-shaped 'eggs' neatly arranged within.The nests are the fruiting bodies of the fungus, and the 'eggs' are enclosures which contain the basidia and the basidiospores.The 'eggs', several per nest, are attached to the inside of the cup by means of a slender connection called a funiculus. When wet, this thread lengthens greatly and may even reach, when stretched, 6 to 8 inches.When wet, the funiculus is also VERY sticky.The nest is perfectly designed to catch raindrops and send them to the 'eggs'.In a heavy rain, the raindrops actually cause the 'eggs' to fly from the cup.When that happens, the funiculus separates from the nest and flies with the egg.The egg, with its funiculus attached, flies through the air, and the funiculus sticks to anything it touches.The egg then hangs there, waiting to burst.This page provides a fantastic picture of tis amazing member of kingdom Fungi.

The Wonderful World of Yeast

Site is an interactive look at yeast.Multiple links want the student through yeast classification, metabolism, cell division, and budding.

Ergot of Rye

Wonderful information on this site regarding this deadly fungus.Great pictures of what happens to the rye grains as a result of the infection.

Dutch Elm Disease

Dutch Elm disease is a lethal fungus that grows in the water conducting vessels (Xylem) of American, Red, English and other varieties of elms. This page contains a detailed description of the disease and provides information on Dutch Elm diagnosis and management.

Penicillium mold

Egyptians in 3,000 BC were the first to use this kind of antibiotic.The great Egyptian healer Imhotep noticed that a cut covered with moldy bread healed faster than a cut treated in other ways.We now know that is due to the antibiotic nature of the bread mold Penicillium.

Antibiotic Mechanisms

This page discusses some of the ways antibiotics fight bacteria.

Bio Art – Myxomycetes

Wonderful photography of different fungi found in phylum Myxomycota

Edible and Poisonous Mushrooms

Ever wondered how to tell the difference? Here is a great page to help.

Links that contain extra help for the topics in Module #4

Fungi Characteristics

All fungi are all heterotrophic, digest their food outside of the body, and produce spores as one means of reproduction.This page details the characteristics and compares the differences between the major Fungi phyla.Contains some evolutionary content.

Hyphae and Stuff

Hyphae are filaments of cells that make up a mycelium.This page has a wonderful dark field microscope image of hyphae.The discussion portion of the page provides information and links to further topics related to Fungi structure and physiology.Provides comparison images detailing the differences between septate and non-septate hyphae.

Haustoria

A haustorium is specifically designed to invade a living cell and start absorbing nutrients.The fungus that use haustoria are parasitic.This page provides color images of this structural element.

Basidiomycota

Mushrooms belong to phylum Basidiomycota because they form spores on club-shaped cells called BASIDIA.This page provides a great animation of how these are formed and a cartoon that shows the difference between phyla Basidomycota and Ascomycota reproduction.

Basidiomycetes

The Basidiomycota fungi constitute the most conspicuous group of fungi in the environment and include mushrooms, puffballs, and bracket fungi).This page gives some wonderful pictures and links to other information on the group.

Basidiomycetes – Phylum Basidiomycota

Web site provides an outline summary page of the characteristics of this phylum.

Ascomycetes – Phylum Ascomycota

Web site provides an outline summary page of the characteristics of this phylum.Excellent review page.

Lichen Biology

A lichen is symbiotic relationship between a fungus and an alga.A soredium is a lichen spore that contains both the spores of the fungus and the algae.Both organisms must work together to live and they reproduce as a unit.This page provides some awesome photographic images of this interesting example of mutualism.

Mycorrhizae- mutualistic plant-fungi symbioses

In this relationship, the root provides food for the parasitic fungus.The fungus provided minerals that the plant can use as vitamins.(In fact, if minerals are plentiful, the fungus will actually store them for later use by the plant!) This site provides terrific images of this amazing relationship.

Advanced topics related to Module #4

chemical that provides both toughness and flexibility.Web site details the structure of chitin and explains its uses by arthropods and fungi.

The Fifth Kingdom

Is a college-level, online textbook devoted to understanding Kingdom Eumycota.There are full chapter discussions and great microscopic images regarding the six Kingdom Fungi phyla on this site.Contains evolutionary content.

Smuts and Rusts

This site has a detailed discussion of rusts and smuts, including good pictures and references to them in history.

Cellular Metabolism and Fermentation

Fermentation is the anaerobic breakdown of sugars into alcohol, carbon dioxide, and lactic acid.This site provides a detailed look at the process and has great graphics which aid student understanding of the mechanisms involved.Contains evolutionary content.

Phyla Chytridiomycota (Kingdom Fungi) and Oomycota (Kingdom Protista)

Page is a pictorial essay on these two phyla.Note: These two phyla were once classified together as two classes under the phylum Mastigomycota.

Mycology Lecture Notes

Web site is a college professor’s lecture outline covering mycology.Has some great images from a fungi reproduction lab.