Types of Fungi

Fungi are eukaryotic organisms, i.e. they contain a membrane bound nucleus in their cells. In biological taxonomy, they are the members of an independent taxonomic rank known as Kingdom Fungi. The discipline of biology that is concerned with the study of fungi is known as mycology. More than 70,000 species of fungi have been identified till now, that include unicellular and also some really large living organisms.

Some commonly found species of fungi include yeasts, rusts, musts, mushrooms, puffballs, truffles, morels and molds. They are generally distinguished by the types of spores and structure of fruiting bodies that they produce for reproduction. They are heterotrophic organisms, i.e. they depend on organic substrates to derive chemical energy for sustaining life. They can be decomposers or saprobes (live and derive nutrition from organic matter), besides establishing symbiotic relationship with plants, animals and even prokaryotes. Their cell wall consists of chitin and most of them are found to grow as hyphae, a long branching filament. These branching filamentous hyphae collectively form the vegetative part of a fungus, known as mycelium.

Different Kinds of Fungi

They are found to exhibit both sexual and asexual mode of reproduction. They are mainly classified into seven phyla, primarily on the basis of the types of spores and characteristics of their sexual reproductive structures.

Chytridiomycota
Chytridiomycota can be found all over the world and are commonly known as chytrids. The name is derived from the Greek word chytridion, meaning 'little pot', which refers to the pot-like structure that contain the unreleased spores. They produce mobile zoospores for the purpose of propagation. The movement of these spores is facilitated by the single flagellum present on their body. Chytrids are quite distinct from the other divisions of fungi and composed of four main clades.

Blastocladiomycota
Blastocladiomycota were initially a part of the clade that constituted the phylum Chytridiomycota. However, recently on the basis of the results of molecular data and characteristics of their ultrastructures, they are placed as a sister clade to Zygomycota and Glomeromycota. They can be saprotrophs and exhibit sporic meiosis.

Neocallimastigomycota
Initially Neocallimastigomycota also belonged to the Chytridiomycota phylum. The species of fungi that belong to this phylum are generally found in the digestive system of the herbivorous animals and they are anaerobic, i.e. they can thrive in the absence of oxygen. Besides, they can exist both on land and in water. Like the Chytridiomycota, they also form zoospores, that contain single or multiple flagella.

Zygomycota
Most of the fungi belonging to the phylum Zygomycota are saprobes. They are commonly known as sugar or pin molds. They can reproduce both sexually and asexually. For sexual reproduction, they produce zygospores, while asexual reproduction is carried out by means of sporangiospores. Some common species of zygomycota include black bread mold, mucor, rhizomucor, rhizopus and pilobolus species.

Glomeromycota
This phylum contain approximately 200 species of fungi, which mainly reproduce asexually. They mainly draw nutrition from the plants and form arbuscular mycorrhizas with the higher plants. In this type of mycorrhiza, the fungus penetrates the cortical cells of the roots of the plants. These structures help the plants in deriving nutrients from the soil. According to scientific estimates, the symbiotic relationship between plants and glomeromycota dates back 400 million years.

Ascomycota
Ascomycota are also known as sac fungi. It is the largest phylum of fungi, that contain more than 30,000 species. They exhibit sexual mode of reproduction and produce ascospores in a sac like structure called ascus. However, some species are found to reproduce asexually. Some common species of ascomycota are mushrooms, morels, yeasts, truffles, etc. They can be saprotrophs, parasites and also found to establish symbiotic relationship. Aspergillus, penicillium, claviceps are some of the important genres that belong to the phylum ascomycota. They are widely used in the study of genetics and heredity.

Basidiomycota
The members of the phylum basidiomycota are also called club fungi or basidiomycetes. They produce basidiospores for the purpose of reproduction. The spores are produced on a specialized club like structure called basidia. The phylum include many species like mushrooms, rust and smut fungi.

They play an important role in the ecosystem as decomposer. Though some of them are pathogens, many are widely used for preparation and preservation of food like wine, beer, bread, cheese and soy etc. Fungi like mushrooms and truffles are important source of food. Nowadays, many of its species are also used to produce antibiotics like penicillin and cephalosporin and many important vitamins.

Source : Buzzle