What are the major characteristics of class Zygomycota?
Zygomycota. The Zygomycota are terrestrial fungi with a well-developed, coenocytic, haploid mycelium. The thallus is haploid, and chitin and chitosan are significant constituents of the hyphal cell wall. Asexual reproduction in the zygomycetes results in nonmotile spores called sporangiospores.
What does Zygomycota do?
Zygomycota are terrestrial organisms. They live close to plants, usually in soil and on decaying plant matter. Because they decompose soil, plant matter, and dung, they have a major role in the carbon cycle. Zygomycota are also pathogens for animals, amebas, plants, and other fungi.
Why they are called Zygomycota?
Zygos is Greek for “joining” or “a yoke”, referring to the fusion of two hyphal strands which produces these spores, and -mycota is a suffix referring to a division of fungi.
Who discovered Zygomycota?
The pH drops to 7 as spores pass through the hindgut and the “spores” extrude and become attached to the cuticle of the gut. This process was discovered and studied in vitro and in vivo by Dr. Bruce Horn in the laboratory of Dr. Robert Lichtwardt (University of Kansas).
How do zygomycetes move?
Transmission can be done by wet or dry. That means they have the ability to use both air currents and water droplets. Other methods include mechanical transport, such as movement while settled on the fur of animals. Spores from Zygomycetes are often quite large so they settle on surfaces quite easily.
How is Zygomycota formed?
Zygomycetes are fungi characterized by the formation of sexual spores (zygospores). Zygomycete hyphae are usually coenocytic, forming septa only where gametes are formed or to wall off dead hyphae. The name of the phylum comes from zygosporangia, the resistant spherical spores that form during sexual reproduction.
What is the fruiting body of Zygomycota called?
Commonly called the bread molds, the Zygomycota are terrestrial fungi whose fruiting bodies are mostly microscopic in nature, although their asexually produced sporangia can reach greater than 5 cm tall in some species (Fig. 3).
What is the common name for Zygomycota?
Bread molds
They are called sac fungi because their sexual spores, called ascospores, are produced in a sac or ascus….Classification of Fungi.
Group | Zygomycota |
---|---|
Common Name | Bread molds |
Hyphal Organization | coenocytic hyphae |
Reproduction Characteristics | Asexual: sporangiospores Sexual: zygospores |
Example | Rhizopus stolonifer |
How does Zygomycota reproduce?
The Zygomycota typically reproduce asexually by means of non-motile sporangiospores. Sexual reproduction is by gametangial copulation and results in the formation of zygospores. Some species are heterothallic and have a bipolar mating type system which is biallelic but there are some which are homothallic.
What is the pathophysiology of sporangiophores in zygomycota?
The Zygomycota sporangiophores originate from specialized “basal hyphae” and pass through several distinctive developmental stages until the mature asexual spores are released. In addition to the positive phototropism, the sporangiophores are directed by a negative gravitropic response into a position suitable for spore dispersal and distribution.
What are the characteristics of zygospore formation in zygomycota?
Zygospore formation may be stimulated at higher temperatures of incubation (30–40 °C). Growth of Zygomycota in solid agar can produce low or very high fibrous colony that rapidly fills the entire Petri dish. Its color may range from pure white to shades of gray or brown. In old cultures, dark pigmented sporangia are observed.
Is the Zygomycota a collection of phyla?
As more and more genetic evidence becomes available is is clear that what we call the Zygomycota is really a collection of several phyla, some more closely related to one another than others. In fact, some “Zygomycota” are more closely related to the Dikarya than they are to other “Zygomycota”!
What is zygomycosis with a zoospora like invasion?
Zygomycosis with a zoospora-like invasion more frequently and is characterized by an invasion of fungal organisms into the mucosa and submucosa and vessels. The ulcers of the intestinal tract, or gastric, develop, and could rupture, causing peritonitis.