BSC 2011L – Principles of Biology 2 Lab
Lab Topic 17
The Kingdom Fungi
Lab Topic 17: The Kingdom Fungi
Laboratory Objectives
• After completing this lab topic, you should be
able to:
1. Describe the phyla of the Kingdom Fungi,
recognizing and identifying representative
organisms in each.
2. Describe the differences in reproduction in fungal
phyla.
3. Discuss the ecological role and economic
importance of fungi.
4. Design and perform and independent investigation
of a protist or an organism in the Kingdom Fungi.
EUKARYA
Dinoflagellates
Forams
Ciliates Diatoms
Red algae
Land plants
Green algae
Cellular slime molds
Amoebas
Euglena
Trypanosomes
Leishmania
Animals
Fungi
Sulfolobus
Green non-sulfur bacteria
Thermophiles
Halophiles
(Mitochondrion)
COMMON
ANCESTOR
OF ALL
LIFE
Methanobacterium
ARCHAEA
Spirochetes
Chlamydia
Green
sulfur bacteria
BACTERIA
Cyanobacteria
(Plastids, including
chloroplasts)
Exercise 17.1 – Major Fungal Groups
• Introduction
– The Kingdom Fungi includes a diverse set of
organisms from unicellular yeasts to multicellular heterotrophic organisms
– Several important ecological and economic roles
– Fungi often have complex life cycles with
alternating sexual and asexual reproduction
– Spores can be produced either by mitosis or
meiosis
– Share with bacteria the essential role in
decomposition, in addition to their mutualistic
association with the roots of most plants
– In this exercise we will learn about the structure
of typical fungi and the characteristics of three
important phyla
Reproductive structure
Hyphae
Spore-producing
structures
20 µm
Mycelium
Hyphae
Chytrids (1,000 species)
Zygomycetes (1,000 species)
Fungal hypha
Glomeromycetes (160 species)
Ascomycetes (65,000 species)
Basidiomycetes (30,000 species)
25 µm
Exercise 17.1 – Major Fungal Groups
• Lab Study A. Zygote Fungi – Zygomycota
– Materials
• We may or may not have cultures of Rhizopus
available, but you can also refer to Figure 17.1 in
the lab manual to help you answer questions.
– Introduction
• Zygomycetes exhibit a great diversity of life
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histories and include fast-growing molds,
parasites, and commensal symbionts
The phylum is named for the sexually produced
zytosporangia, which are resistant to freezing and
drying
Some species, such as Pilobolus, can “aim” their
sporangia toward conditions associated with good
food sources
Zygomycetes (1,000 species)
Exercise 17.1 – Major Fungal Groups
• Lab Study A. Zygote Fungi – Zygomycota
– Procedure
• Follow the 8-step procedure in your lab manual
– Results
• Answer questions 1 and 2
– Discussion
• Answer both discussion questions
Culture of Rhizopus
Life cycle of Rhizopus
Key
Haploid (n)
Heterokaryotic (n + n)
Diploid (2n)
PLASMOGAMY
Mating
type (+)
Mating
type (–)
Gametangia with
haploid nuclei
100 µm
Young
zygosporangium
(heterokaryotic)
Rhizopus
growing
on bread
SEXUAL
REPRODUCTION
Dispersal and
germination
Sporangia
Zygosporangium
KARYOGAMY
Spores
Sporangium
ASEXUAL
REPRODUCTION
MEIOSIS
Dispersal and
germination
50 µm
Mycelium
Diploid
nuclei
The shotgun fungus Pilobolus
0.5 mm
Cultures of Pilobolus
Exercise 17.1 – Major Fungal Groups
• Lab Study B. Sac Fungi – Ascomycota
– Materials
• We will have dried specimens and preserved slides
of Peziza, a sac fungus
• There are also demonstration materials of
Roquefort cheese and fresh morels
– Introduction
• Sac fungi includes edible forms (morels and
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truffles), as well as several parasitic forms
Sexual reproduction produces 4 or 8 haploid
ascospores after meiosis in the ascus
Asci form within a structure called an ascocarp
In this lab study we will view prepared slides of a
sac fungus and other demonstration materials
Exercise 17.1 – Major Fungal Groups
• Lab Study B. Sac Fungi – Ascomycota
– Procedure
• Follow the procedures in the lab manual
• Peziza and Penicillium
– Results
• Answer questions 1-4
• Complete Table 17.1 in the Reviewing Your
Knowledge section
– Discussion
• Answer questions 1-3 on page 453
Ascomycetes (65,000 species)
Ascomycetes (sac fungi)
Morchella esculenta,
the tasty morel
Tuber melanosporum, a truffle
Conidia;
mating type (–)
Haploid spores (conidia)
Dispersal
Haploid (n)
Dikaryotic (n + n)
Diploid (2n)
Germination
ASEXUAL
REPRODUCTION
Key
Mating
type (+)
Hypha
PLASMOGAMY
Ascus
(dikaryotic)
Conidiophore
Dikaryotic
hyphae
Mycelia
Mycelium
Germination
Dispersal
Ascocarp
Asci
SEXUAL
REPRODUCTION
KARYOGAMY
Diploid nucleus
(zygote)
Eight
ascospores
Four
haploid
nuclei
MEIOSIS
The sac fungi Peziza
Cultures of Penicillium
Morels – Cup Fungi
Exercise 17.1 – Major Fungal Groups
• Lab Study C. Club Fungi – Basidiomycota
– Materials
• Compound and stereo microscopes
• Mushroom basidocarps and prepared slides
– Introduction
• This phylum includes mushrooms, puffballs, and shelf
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fungi, some of which form mutualisms with plants,
others that are parasitic
Defined by a club-like structure called a basidium,
which is a transient diploid stage in the life cycle
The life cycle of a basidiomycete usually includes a
long-lived dikaryotic mycelium
In response to environmental stimuli, the mycelium
reproduces sexually by producing elaborate fruiting
bodies call basidiocarps
The numerous basidia in a basidiocarp are sources of
sexual spores called basidiospores
Exercise 17.1 – Major Fungal Groups
• Lab Study C. Club Fungi – Basidiomycota
– Procedure
• Follow the procedures in the lab manual
– Results
• Review the structures observed and label Figure
•
17.4a in the lab manual
Complete Table 17.1 in the Reviewing Your
Knowledge section and describe characteristics of
basidiomycetes.
– Discussion
• State the characteristics shared by all
•
Basidomycota.
Completion questions 1-2 on page 457 in the lab
manual.
Basidiomycetes (30,000 species)
Maiden veil fungus
(Dictyphora), a
fungus with an
odor like rotting
meat
Puffballs emitting
spores
Shelf fungi, important
decomposers of wood
Dikaryotic mycelium
PLASMOGAMY
Haploid mycelia
Mating
type (–)
Haploid
mycelia
Mating
type (+)
Gills lined
with basidia
SEXUAL
REPRODUCTION
Basidiocarp
(n+n)
Dispersal and
germination
Basidiospores
(n)
Basidium with
four basidiospores
Basidium
Basidia
(n+n)
Basidium containing
four haploid nuclei
KARYOGAMY
MEIOSIS
Key
1 µm
Basidiospore
Diploid
nuclei
Haploid (n)
Dikaryotic (n +n)
Diploid (2n)
A Mushroom or Basidiocarp
Pileus of Coprinus Section
Exercise 17.1 – Major Fungal Groups
• Lab Study D. Lichens
– Materials
• We will examine samples of foliose, crustose, and
fruticose lichens on demonstration
– Introduction
• A lichen is a symbiotic association between a
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photosynthetic micro-organism and a fungus
Lichens grow on the surfaces of rocks, rotting logs,
trees, and roofs in various forms
The photosynthetic partners are unicellular or
filamentous green algae or cyanobacteria
The fungal component of a lichen is most often an
ascomycete
Algae or cyanobacteria occupy an inner layer below the
lichen surface
More than 13,500 species have been described (1 out of
every 7 known fungi)
Exercise 17.1 – Major Fungal Phyla
• Lab Study D. Lichens
– Procedure
• Observe the demonstrations of different lichen
types
• Also refer to Figure 17.6 in the lab manual
– Results
• Answer questions 1-3 on page 458
– Discussion
• Answer the discussion questions on pages 458459
Variation in lichen growth forms
A fruticose (shrublike) lichen
Crustose
(encrusting)
lichens
A foliose
(leaflike)
lichen
Anatomy of an ascomycete lichen
Ascocarp of fungus
Fungal
hyphae Algal
layer
Algal cell
Fungal hyphae
Soredia
Exercise 17.2
• Designing and performing an open-inquiry
investigation
– We will be skipping this exercise, but you
should look over the description of what
could be designed to answer questions about
a particular organism we have studied.
– You do not need to complete pages 459 to the
top of 462 in the lab manual
Reviewing Your Knowledge (page 462)
• 1. Complete Table 17.1 comparing
characteristics of fungi (Exercise 17.1).
• 3. Compare spore formation in sac fungi
and club fungi.
Applying Your Knowledge (page 463)
• Answer questions 1-2 in the lab manual.
• You can consult your BSC 2011 course
textbook and Blackboard course materials
if you need additional background
information.