Kingdom: Fungi

Phylum: Zygomycota

Read the section on Zygomycota in the notes.

Rhizopus (Bread Mold)

Observe Rhizopus (bread mold) growing on a culture dish. Use a dissecting microscope to see details of the hyphae and sporangia. Is there any evidence of sexual reproduction?

View slides of Rhizopus sporangia and Rhizopus zygotes. 

Rhizopus* sporangia img001.jpg (117038 bytes)
Rhizopus* zygotes img002.jpg (69879 bytes)

Phylum: Ascomycota (Sac Fungi)

Read the section on Ascomycota in the notes.

Peziza (Cup Fungi)

Observe preserved Peziza (cup fungus) using a dissecting microscope.

Observe a slide of  Peziza at scanning, low, and high power magnification. Find an ascus and ascospores on the upper surface (inside the cup).

Peziza* X 40 img003.jpg (89147 bytes)
Peziza* X 200 img004.jpg (91589 bytes)

Yeast

Yeast reproduce asexually by budding. Make a wet mount of live yeast and see if you can observe budding under high power. If you cannot see yeast budding, view a prepared slide of yeast budding under high power. 

Yeast also reproduce sexually by forming an ascus and eight ascospores. View a slide of Schizosaccharomyces octosporus under high power or oil immersion and find an ascus with ascospores.

Yeast* budding X 1000 img005.jpg (21334 bytes)
Schizosaccharomyces
octosporus X 1000		 img006.jpg (31792 bytes)
Schizosaccharomyces
octosporus X 1000		 img007.jpg (64321 bytes)

Morchella (Morels)

Observe a preserved specimen of a morel. Asci and ascospores are produced on the surface.

Penicillium

Observe Penicillium growing on a culture dish.

Penicillium growing on an agar plate  Penicillin 6.jpg (100360 bytes)

Penicillium reproduces asexually. Observe a slide of Penicillium conidiophores under high power. The spores are called conidia.

Penicillium* conidia X 400 img015.jpg (45037 bytes)

Phylum: Basidiomycota (Club Fungi)

Read the section on Basidiomycota.

Observe some representative club fungi on display including mushrooms, puffballs, and bracket fungi.

Mushrooms img008.jpg (105201 bytes)
Bracket fungi img010.jpg (117606 bytes)
Bracket fungi and lichens img011.jpg (130112 bytes)

Mushrooms

Cut a mushroom to reveal the gills as shown in the photograph below. Basidia and basidiospores form on the gills.

Mushroom cut to
reveal the gills		 mushroom_showing_gills.jpg (38194 bytes)

View a cross section of the cap of a mushroom (Coprinus) showing the gills. Find a basidium and basidiospores.

Coprinus X 400 img012.jpg (66590 bytes)
Coprinus X 1000 showing
basidia and basidiospores		 img013.jpg (53831 bytes)
Coprinus X 1000 showing
basidia and basidiospores		 img014.jpg (50244 bytes)

Puffballs

Carefully press down on a portion of a puffball until you see a cloud of "smoke" being produced. What is this cloud composed of?

A cloud of basidiospores
produced by a puffball.		 Puffball spores 2.jpg (413416 bytes)

Symbiotic Associations of Fungi and Other Organisms

Lichens

Read the section on lichens in the notes.

Observe the lichens on display. Some lichens have a crust-like appearance (crustose). Others have a shrublike (fruticose) or leaflike (foliose) appearance.

Observe the photographs of lichens below.

Lichens growing on a rock img018.jpg (115622 bytes)
Lichens growing on a tree img019.jpg (100181 bytes)
Lichens growing on a tree img020.jpg (115494 bytes)

Observe a slide of a lichen thallus (c.s.) and identify the fungal hyphae and the photosynthetic (algal) cells.

Lichen thallus
(cross-section X 200)		 img021.jpg (87745 bytes)
Lichen thallus X 400 img022.jpg (73363 bytes)

Mycorrhizae

Read the section on mycorrhizae in the notes.

Observe a slide of mycorrhizae in an orchid root.

Mycorrhizae in an orchid root img023.jpg (93892 bytes)

 

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