Review Guide for the Final

1. Understand what the features are that distinguish fungi from other living organisms (bacteria, plants, animals).

2. What features are used to separate the organisms we discussed into the different kingdoms, Protoctista Stramenopila and Fungi? What features distinguish the different phyla: Myxomycota, Dictyosteliomycota and Acrasiomycota, Plasmodiophoromycota, Oomycota, Hyphochytriomycota, Chytridiomycota, Zygomycota, Ascomycota, Basidiomycota and Deuteromycota?

3. What features are required to properly name a fungal species? What is a teleomorph and an anamorph? If a fungus has both, how will the name of that fungus be determined?

4. Understand how the ending of the different names that identify a fungus in a classification scheme allow you to determine the level at which it is being identified (ie. the ending -mycetes is used for describing a fungal Class, -ales, a fungal order).

5. What are hyphae? Why are they important for fungi in terms of obtaining nutrition? Do all fungi have hyphae? What role do chitin and cellulose play in hyphae? How are these compounds similar and how do they differ? How do hyphae grow? What is the significance of branching? Some fungi have septa in their hyphae, while others do not. What advantage do septa provide?

6. The vast majority of fungi are saprobes. What does this mean, and why is it important for all life on earth?

7. Asexual reproduction may involve conidiation or sporangiosporogenesis. How does the production of these two spore types differ? Which fungi use which? Which type of spore may be motile? What is an advantage and a disadvantage of motile spores? Conidiogenesis may be blastic or thallic. How do these processes differ?

8. You should know what plasmogamy, karyogamy and meiosis are and how they fit into the life cycles of the fungal phyla like the back of your hand. Understand how the occurrence of mitosis between these different processes affects the nuclear state of the fungal cell. How does the presence or absence of mitosis during sexual reproduction affect the number of sexual spores produced per ascus, in the Ascomycota?

9. How does the parasexual cycle differ from sexual reproduction in terms of formation of a strain with two genetically different nuclei, nuclear fusion, recombination of chromosomes and reformation of the haploid nuclei. Why is sexual reproduction a much more efficient method of generating genetic recombination?

10. What is the difference between being homothallic and heterothallic? Only heterothallic species have mating types. Why are mating types not considered sexes? What is the difference between a bipolar and a tetrapolar mating type system? Why in a bipolar system can you mate with 50% of your fellow progeny and in a tetrapolar system, you can only mate with 25% of your fellow progeny? (hint, answer the question of by thinking of how many different mating types there will be among the progeny of (i) a bipolar cross; (ii) a tetrapolar cross)

11. Understand how planogametic copulation, gametangial contact, gametangial copulation (or fusion), spermatization and somatogamy differ. Which method(s) is used by most of the Chytridiomycota, the Oomycota, the Zygomycota, the Ascomycota, the Basidiomycota?

12. How do the hormones sirenin and those of Achlya ambisexualis (antheridiol, oogonial etc) acid play a role in sexual reproduction?

13. How can a fungus have both forcible discharge and air dispersal of its spores? Which method allows spores to be dispersed over a wider range and why? What fungi that we have discussed several times rely only on forcible discharge? Why? What fungi require water for dispersal? Why?

14. What is the difference between constitutive and exogenous dormancy? Many plant parasites have constitutive dormancy where spores require a cold period prior to germination. For example, this is true of Smut (Basidiomycota, Ustilaginales) teliospores. What is the significance of this?

15. How do slime molds differ from other organisms we consider in Mycology in terms of their cell wall? In terms of their mode of nutrition assimilation? How do cellular slime molds and true slime molds differ?

16. How do the Chytridiomycota differ from the other organisms in the kingdom "Fungi". Under what criteria were they placed in this kingdom?

17. What are the flagellar types of the Chytridiomycota, the Oomycota and the Hyphochytriomycota, and how are they thought to work?

18. Allomyces macrogynus is a diplobiontic Chytridiomycota. What does this mean? How could you distinguish the sporophyte from the gametophyte under the microscope? What characteristic gives this fungus its species epithet?

19. What does it mean when one says that Olpidium is holocarpic, endobiotic and inoperculate?

20. Saprolegnia sp. are characterized by having a dimorphic and diplanetic zoospore pattern. What does this mean? How does the oogonium of the Saprolegniales differ from those of the Peronosporales (ie. Pythium and Phytophthora)?

21. The downy mildews, are members of the Peronosporales and the powdery mildews are members of the Erysiphales (Plectomycetes). How are these two types of fungi similar? How do they differ?

22. Understand why the Zygomycota are considered intermediate between the lower fungi and the higher fungi. Consider the types of spores they produce, and their hyphae.

23. How do Rhizopus stolonifer and Pilobolus crystallinus differ in their mode of dispersal, and how is this adaptive for its nutrition source?

24. How do the Entomophthorales differ from most of the other Zygomycota?

25. Know how to distinguish the Hemiascomycetes, the Plectomycetes, Pyrenomycetes, Discomycetes, and Loculoascomycetes.

26. Understand how an ascus may have one, 4, 8 or thousands of ascospores. You should understand how ascogenous hyphae is formed, how it grows and how it asci develop from it. Also understand how the ascocarp develops.

27. Why is the Deuteromycota called a form-Phylum, and all the sub-groups within this grouping of organisms preceded by the term "form"?

What criteria are used to distinquish the different form-Classes in the Deuteromycota? How did Saccardo further distinguish the Deuteromycota?

28. Why is the Deuteromycota getting smaller as a phylum, when most other phyla are increasing in size as more fungal species are being identified?

29. What is the predominant nuclear state of the Basidiomycota? Why? Understand how clamp connections are produced, and what their significance is. Are they produced in homokaryons? dikaryons? diploids? What are the similarities and differences in basidispore and ascospore formation?

30. How are the classes of the Basidiomycota distinguished? An informal method of classifying the Basidiomycota puts the Smuts (Ustilaginales) and Rust (Uredinales) into a separate class, the Teliomycetes? What is unique about the teliospore that distinguishes this grouping? What other features do these two orders share? You should know the differences between the rust and the smuts also.

31. What are the five spore stages of the macrocyclic wheat rust, Puccinia graminis? What is their nuclear ploidy and what is the role of each spore in the rust lifecycle?

Some Terminology

monophyletic vs. polyphyletic
chitin
cellulose
septum (dolipore, simple)
coenocytic
flagellum - tinsel vs. whiplash
plasmodium
holocarpic
eucarpic
sporangium
conidium
zygospore
ascus/ascospore
basidium/basidiospore
anamorph vs. teleomorph
holomorph
saprobe
mutualist
parasite
pathogen
appressorium
haustorium
rhizoids
sclerotium
sporangiophore
conidiophore
enteroblastic-annellidic
enteroblastic phiallidic
spitzenkorper
antheridium
oogonium
hermaphrodite
dioecious
heterokaryon
homokaryon
dikaryon
haploid
diploid
anastomosis
peridium
capillitium
plasmodium
pseudoplasmodium
myxamoeba
sporangium vs. sporangiolum
suspensor
rhizoid
stolon
ascogonium
trichogyne
unitunicate ascus
bitunicate ascus
crozier
pycnidium
acervulus
dolipore septum
hymenium
gill
heteroecious
macrocyclic