Mushrooms play an important role in nature and human life. But if you ask someone the question: “Are mushrooms animals or plants?”, then not everyone will answer it right away. Further in the article we will tell you what it is, what types of mushrooms there are and why they are needed.

general description

Fungi are achlorophyll-free heterotrophic lower organisms, uniting more than one hundred thousand species. Among them you can find both meter-long giants and microscopic representatives.

The answer to the question asked above: “Are mushrooms animals or plants?” It can be argued that mushrooms do not belong to either the first or the second, but have several common features with both one and the other. Fungi have in common with the plant world a sedentary lifestyle, continuous growth, feeding on substances dissolved in water, and the presence of a cell membrane. Fungi have similar properties to animals: the absence of plastids and the content of chitin and glycogen in the cells. An individual property is the presence of a vegetative body called mycelium or mycelium, consisting of thread-like processes - hyphae. Therefore, mushrooms act as a separate kingdom of living nature in the organic world on a par with the kingdoms of animals, plants and bacteria.

Fungi settle in various places - in humans, animals, on plants and their roots. According to the method of nutrition, they are classified as decomposers - organisms that feed on dead organic remains, turning them into simple organic compounds.

Historical reference

The combination of both animal and plant characteristics makes it possible to assume that the answer to the question: “Are mushrooms animals or plants?” is their origin, which dates back to the ancestors of antiquity who lived in primary reservoirs. These were colorless primitive unicellular flagellated organisms without a clear division into the animal and plant worlds. Unfortunately, science cannot say for sure what the origin of mushrooms was and their further development.

The oldest remains of fungal ancestors found date back to about nine hundred million years ago, which is in the Archean era. Extensive formation was marked by the Cambrian period of the Paleozoic era (six hundred million years ago), and flourished during the Carboniferous period (three hundred million years ago).

A distinctive feature of the structure and life activity of cap mushrooms is the formation of fruiting bodies, which are popularly called mushrooms. They consist of hyphae, a stalk and a cap, on the reverse side of which there are tubular holes or plates, defining the subspecies. Tubular mushrooms include boletus, boletus, boletus and others, and lamellar mushrooms include honey mushrooms, russula, chanterelles and others.

The purpose of the tubes and plates is the formation of millions of spores, which, under suitable conditions, germinate into the mycelium. The latter, as it grows, lengthens and begins to branch, increasing the number of cells and forming a network that looks like white mold on the ground and fallen leaves.

The type of nutrition of cap mushrooms is the absorption of substances dissolved in water from the soil and roots of trees. In parallel with this process, the mushrooms entwine the plant and penetrate inside. Trees, in turn, also receive moisture through fungi. Such natural cohabitation is called symbiosis, and in the case of roots - mycorrhiza.

Type - mold fungi

A large group of fungi, the reproduction of which also occurs by spores, but without the formation of large fruiting bodies. This is mold.

Such fungi develop mainly on food products:

Mukor is a fungus in the form of a fluffy whitish mold that forms spores inside balls - sporangia. The mycelium is not fragmented into cells, but has a multinuclear structure.
Penicillium is a green mycelium divided into cells, forming branches in the form of a brush with spore chains in some places.

These members of the fungal kingdom are not usually eaten, but they help fight disease in the form of medicines. From penicillium, for example, an antibiotic is produced - penicillin, which is used for various purulent and inflammatory diseases of organs by suppressing the microorganisms that cause them.

Type - yeast mushrooms

Yeasts are single-celled, static organisms up to ten micrometers in size, oval or elongated in shape. They do not form true mycelium. Inside the cells there is a nucleus with mitochondria, and vacuoles accumulate organic and inorganic substances, oxidation and reduction processes take place in them with the accumulation of volutin inside the cells.

Yeast propagation is vegetative, through budding or division. After repeated repetitions of the reproduction process, forming short, loosely connected chains, sporulation occurs. It is also facilitated by limiting the supply of nutrients and oxygen.

Yeasts settle on the remains of plants that contain carbohydrates and on fruits. In an environment rich in sugars, yeast fungi cause alcoholic fermentation processes with the release of carbon dioxide and ethyl alcohol. These enzymatic transformations involve a whole complex of enzymes in the process, freeing up the energy necessary for yeast cells to maintain life cycles.

Role in nature

By merging with the roots of plants and trees, mushrooms form symbiosis - mutually beneficial cohabitation. By absorbing proteins and sugars contained in the host’s body, the fungi simultaneously obtain dissolved substances from the soil and transport them back to the host. As they grow, they become food for others.

The role of mushrooms in nature is invaluable. They take part in the cycle of substances, in soil-forming processes, in the sanitation of the planet, mineralizing dead remains, and are food for other plants and animals.

In human life, the benefits of mushrooms are expressed in the following:

use for fattening animals;
application in various fields (brewing, bakery, winemaking, alcohol and dairy production);
obtaining medicines in pharmaceuticals;
used to control harmful insects.

But the role of mushrooms in nature comes down to more than just positive aspects. Their negative effect is as follows:

destroy buildings and products made of wood and plywood;
can cause dangerous diseases in animals and people (damage to the eyes, skin and lungs);
metals, paint and varnish coatings, lubricating oils corrode;
developing in plants for animal feed, they secrete toxic substances there.

Mushrooms: scientific classification

There is no unambiguous classification of this species, but there are gradations:

by type of formation, disputes are expressed in the ending of names recognized by international rules;
by the nature and structure of the reproductive organs (oomycots and eumycots).

Oomikot's small department includes the following classes:

Oomycetes (Oomycetes) are a large group of seventy genera that live mainly in water, less often on higher plants. They have both types of reproduction.
Hyphochytriomicetes (Hyphochytriomycetes) - live in water and humid environments, inside algae and invertebrate animals.

Most of the mushrooms - the variety of mushrooms is amazing - belongs to the Eumicot department and is divided into five classes:

The article answers the question: “Are mushrooms animals or plants?” and also discusses the classification of mushrooms and their role in the lives of people and plants. But it is worth paying attention to precautions.

Mushrooms have long been used by humans as food, but everyone has long known that inedible mushrooms are deadly to people and animals, so picking them, handling them or eating them is strictly prohibited.

In villages, they still use a biological method of fighting insects: they leave a saucer of water, to which sugar and pieces of fly agaric have been added, in places where flies and other insects accumulate. The latter die after drinking this water.

If traces of mold are found on leftover food (bread, vegetables or fruits), it should be thrown away and not eaten or fed to animals.

The mushroom kingdom includes many species. Lower fungi belong to microorganisms. A person can only see them through a microscope or on spoiled food. Higher mushrooms have a complex structure and large sizes. They can grow on the ground and on tree trunks and are found where there is access to organic matter. The bodies of fungi are formed by thin, tightly adjacent hyphae. These are exactly the species that we are used to collecting in baskets while walking through the forest.

Higher mushrooms - agaricaceae

Perhaps every person has an exact idea of what an ordinary mushroom looks like. Everyone knows where they can grow and when they can be found. But in reality, the representatives of the mushroom kingdom are not so simple. They differ from each other in shape and structure. The bodies of fungi are formed by a plexus of hyphae. Most of the species known to us have a stem and a cap, which can be painted in different colors. Almost all mushrooms that humans eat are classified as agaricaceae. This group includes species such as champignons, valui, saffron milk caps, chanterelles, honey mushrooms, porcini mushrooms, trumpet mushrooms, etc. So it is worth studying the structure of these mushrooms in more detail.

General structure of higher fungi

The bodies of fungi are formed by intertwined giant multinucleated cells - hyphae, which make up the plectenchyma. In most capped representatives of the order Agaricaceae, it is clearly divided into a rounded cap and a stalk. Some species belonging to aphyllophorans and morels also have such an external structure. However, even among the agaricaceae there are exceptions. In some species, the leg may be lateral or completely absent. But in Gasteromycetes, the bodies of the fungi are formed in such a way that no such division is visible, and they do not have caps. They have a tuberous, club-shaped, spherical or star shape.

The cap is protected by a skin, under which there is a layer of pulp. It may have a bright color and smell. The stem or stump is attached to the substrate. This could be soil, a living tree, or the corpse of an animal. The stump is usually dense, its surface varies depending on the species. It can be smooth, scaly, velvety.

Higher fungi reproduce sexually and asexually. The vast majority form spores. The vegetative body of the fungus is called mycelium. It consists of thin branching hyphae. A hypha is an elongated thread that has apical growth. They may not have partitions, in which case the mycelium consists of one giant multinucleate, highly branched cell. The vegetative body of fungi can develop not only in soil rich in organic matter, but also in the wood of living and dead trunks, on stumps, roots, and much less often on shrubs.

The structure of the fruiting body of a cap mushroom

The fruiting bodies of most agaricaceae are soft, fleshy and juicy. When they die, they usually rot. Their life span is very short. For some mushrooms, only a few hours may pass from the moment they appear above the ground to the final stage of development; less often, it lasts a couple of days.

The fruiting body of mushrooms consists of a cap and a centrally located stalk. Sometimes, as mentioned above, the leg may be missing. Hats come in various sizes, from a few millimeters to tens of centimeters. Walking through the forest, you can see how small mushrooms with a cap the size of a little finger pad have grown out of the ground on thin, delicate legs. And a heavy giant mushroom may sit next to them. Its cap grows up to 30 cm, and the leg is heavy and thick. Porcini mushrooms and milk mushrooms can boast such impressive sizes.

The shape of the cap is also different. There are cushion-shaped, hemispherical, flattened, bell-shaped, funnel-shaped, with an edge curved down or up. Often, over the course of a short life, the shape of a mushroom’s cap changes several times.

The structure of the cap of mushrooms of the order agaricaceae

The caps, like the bodies of mushrooms, are formed by hyphae. They are covered with a thick skin on top. It also consists of covering hyphae. Their function is to protect internal tissues from loss of vital moisture. This prevents the skin from drying out. It can be painted in different colors depending on the type of mushroom and its age. Some have white skin, others have bright skin: orange, red or brown. It can be dry or, on the contrary, covered with thick mucus. Its surface can be smooth and scaly, velvety or warty. In some species, for example, butterfish, the skin is easily removed completely. But in russula and russula it lags behind only at the very edge. In many species, it is not removed at all and is firmly connected to the pulp that is located under it.

Under the skin, therefore, the fruiting body of the mushroom is formed by pulp - sterile tissue built from a plexus of hyphae. It varies in density. The flesh of some species is loose, while others are elastic. It can be brittle. This part of the mushroom has a specific species-specific odor. It can be sweet or nutty. The aroma of the pulp of some species is acrid or peppery-bitter; it can have a rare and even garlicky tint.

As a rule, in most species the flesh under the skin on the cap is light in color: white, milky, brownish or greenish. What are the structural features of the fungal body in this part? In some varieties, the color at the break site remains the same over time, while in others the color changes dramatically. Such changes are explained by the oxidative processes of dyes. A striking example of this phenomenon is the boletus. If you make a cut on its fruiting body, this place will quickly darken. The same processes are observed in moss and bruise.

In the pulp of such species as volushka, milk mushroom and saffron milk cap, there are special hyphae. Their walls are thickened. They are called milky passages and are filled with a colorless or colored liquid - juice.

Hymenium - fruiting layer

The fruiting body of the mushroom is formed by pulp, under which, directly under the cap, there is a fruiting layer - the hymenium. This is a series of microscopic spore-bearing cells - basidium. In the overwhelming majority of agaric hymeniums, they are located openly on the hymenophore. These are special protrusions located on the underside of the cap.

The hymenophore has a different structure in different species of higher fungi. For example, in chanterelles it is presented in the form of thick branched folds that descend onto their stem. But in blackberries, the hymenophores are in the form of brittle spines that are easily separated. The tubes are formed, and the lamellar ones, accordingly, have plates. The hymenophore can be free (if it does not reach the stalk) or adherent (if it grows tightly with it). The hymenium is necessary for reproduction. From the spores that spread around, a new vegetative body of the fungus is formed.

Fungal spores

The structure of the fruiting body of the cap mushroom is not complex. Its spores develop on fertile cells. All agaric fungi are unicellular. As in any eukaryotic cell, a spore is divided into a membrane, cytoplasm, nucleus and other cellular organelles. They also contain a large number of inclusions. Spore size is from 10 to 25 microns. Therefore, they can only be viewed through a microscope at good magnification. In shape they are round, oval, spindle-shaped, granular and even star-shaped. Their shell also varies depending on the species. In some spores it is smooth, in others it is spiny, bristly or warty.

When released into the environment, spores often resemble powder. But the cells themselves can be either colorless or colored. Often among mushrooms there are spores that are yellow, brown, pink, red-brown, olive, purple, orange and even black. Mycologists pay great attention to the color and size of spores. These signs are stable, and they often help in identifying the types of mushrooms.

Structure of the fruiting body: mushroom stalk

The fruiting body of the mushroom is familiar to almost everyone. The stem, like the cap, is formed from tightly intertwined threads of hyphae. But these giant cells are distinguished by the fact that their shell is thick and has good strength. The mushroom needs the stem for support. She lifts it above the substrate. The hyphae in the stalk are connected into bundles that are adjacent to each other in parallel and go from bottom to top. This is how water and mineral compounds flow from the mycelium to the cap. The legs are distinguished into two types: solid (the hyphae are pressed closely) and hollow (when a cavity is noticeable between the hyphae - laticifers). But in nature there are also intermediate types. These are the legs of the bruise and the chestnut tree. These species have a dense outer part. And in the middle the leg is filled with spongy pulp.

Anyone who has an idea of the appearance of the fruiting body of a mushroom knows that the legs differ not only in structure. They have different shapes and thickness. For example, russula and boletus have a straight and cylindrical stem. But in the well-known boletus and aspen boletuses, it evenly expands towards its base. There is also an obverse club-shaped hemp. It is very common among agaric mushrooms. Such a leg has a noticeable expansion at the base, which sometimes turns into a bulbous swelling. This form of hemp is most often found in large species of mushrooms. It is typical for fly agarics, cobwebs, and umbrellas. Mushrooms in which mycelium develops on wood often have a stem narrowed towards the base. It can be elongated and turn into a rhizomorph, stretching under the roots of a tree or stump.

So, what does the body of an agaricaceae mushroom consist of? This is a stalk, which lifts it above the substrate, and a cap, in the lower part of which spores develop. Some types of mushrooms, for example, fly agarics, after the formation of the ground part, are covered for some time with a whitish shell. It is called the “common veil”. As the fruiting body of the mushroom grows, pieces of it remain on the round cap, and at the base of the stump a bag-like formation is noticeable - a volva. In some mushrooms it is free, while in others it is attached and looks like a thickening or ridges. Also, the remnants of the “common blanket” are the bands on the stem of the mushroom. They are noticeable in many species, especially early in development. As a rule, in young mushrooms the belts cover the developing hymenophore.

Differences in the structure of cap mushrooms

Fungi differ from species to species. The fruiting bodies of some are not similar to the structure described above. There are exceptions among agaric mushrooms. And there are quite a few such species. But the lines and morels only superficially resemble agaric mushrooms. Their fruiting bodies also have a clear division into a cap and a stalk. Their cap is fleshy and hollow. Its shape is most often conical. The surface is not smooth, but rather ribbed. The stitches have an irregularly shaped head. It is covered with easily perceptible winding folds. Unlike agaric mushrooms, in morels the spore-bearing layer is located on the surface of the cap. It is represented by "bags" or asci. These are containers in which spores are formed and accumulate. The presence of such a part of the mushroom body as asca is common to all. The stem of morels and pods is hollow, its surface is smooth and even, and there is a noticeable tuberous thickening at the base.

Representatives of another order - aphyllophorous mushrooms, also have capped fruiting bodies with a pronounced stalk. This group includes chanterelles and blackberries. Their cap has a rubbery or slightly woody structure. A striking example of this is tinder fungi, which are also included in this order. As a rule, aphyllophoran mushrooms do not rot, as happens with agaric mushrooms with their fleshy body. When they die, they dry out.

Also slightly different in structure from most cap species are mushrooms of the order of horned mushrooms. Their fruiting body is club-shaped or coral-shaped. It is completely covered with hymenium. An important feature of this order is the absence of a hymenophore.

The order Gasteromycetes also has an unusual structure. In this group, the body of the fungus is often called a tuber. In species included in this order, the shape can be very diverse: spherical, star-shaped, ovoid, pear-shaped and nest-shaped. Their size is quite large. Some mushrooms of this order reach a diameter of 30 cm. The most striking example of gasteromycetes is the giant puffball.

Vegetative body of a mushroom

The vegetative body of mushrooms is called their mycelium (or mycelium), which is located in the soil or, for example, in wood. It consists of very thin threads - hyphae, the thickness of which varies from 1.5 to 10 mm. The hyphae are highly branched. The mycelium develops both in the substrate and on its surface. The length of the mycelium in such nutritious soil, such as forest litter, can reach 30 km per 1 gram.

So, the vegetative body of fungi consists of long hyphae. They grow only at the top, that is, apically. The structure of the mycelium is very interesting. The mycelium in most species is noncellular. It is devoid of intercellular partitions and is one giant cell. It has not one, but a large number of cores. But mycelium can also be cellular. In this case, under a microscope, the partitions separating one cell from another are clearly visible.

Development of the vegetative body of the fungus

So, the vegetative body of the fungus is called mycelium. Once in a moist substrate, the rich spores of cap mushrooms germinate. It is from them that the long filaments of the mycelium develop. They grow slowly. Only after accumulating a sufficient amount of nutritious organic and mineral substances does the mycelium form fruiting bodies on the surface, which we call mushrooms. Their rudiments themselves appear in the first month of summer. But they finally develop only with the onset of favorable weather conditions. As a rule, there are a lot of mushrooms in the last month of summer and in autumn, when the rains come.

The feeding of cap species is not at all similar to the processes occurring in algae or green plants. They cannot synthesize the organic substances they need on their own. There is no chlorophyll in their cells. They need ready-made nutrients. Since the vegetative body of the fungus is represented by hyphae, it is they that contribute to the absorption of water with mineral compounds dissolved in it from the substrate. Therefore, they prefer forest soils rich in humus. They grow less frequently in meadows and steppes. Mushrooms take most of the organic substances they need from tree roots. Therefore, most often they grow in close proximity to them.

For example, all lovers of quiet hunting know that porcini mushrooms can always be found near birch, oak and spruce trees. But you need to look for delicious saffron milk caps in pine forests. Boletus grows in birch groves, and boletus grows in aspen groves. This can easily be explained by the fact that mushrooms establish a close relationship with trees. As a rule, it is useful for both types. When a densely branched mycelium entwines the roots of a plant, it tries to penetrate them. But this does not harm the tree at all. The thing is that, located inside the cells, the mycelium sucks water from the soil and, of course, mineral compounds dissolved in it. At the same time, they also enter the root cells, which means they serve as food for the tree. Thus, the overgrown mycelium performs a function that is especially beneficial for old roots. After all, they no longer have hairs. How is this symbiosis useful for mushrooms? They receive from the plant useful organic compounds that they need for nutrition. Only if there are enough of them, the fruiting bodies of cap mushrooms develop on the surface of the substrate.

Overkingdom Eukaryotes

Kingdom Mushrooms

Mushroom department.

Morphophysiological characteristics of the department.

Fungi are a group of heterotrophic organisms that includes about 100,000 species.

They are isolated in their morphophysiological organization from the rest of the world of living beings. They cannot be classified as either plants or animals. The body of mushrooms does not consist of typical cells, but of threads. They are connected with the animal world by the presence of urea in metabolism, a reserve substance - glycogen, as well as chitin in the walls of hyphae. What they have in common with plants is an attached lifestyle, the ability for unlimited growth, and a tendency to dismember the body, which facilitates absorption by the entire surface of the body.

Origin.

The theory of the plant origin of fungi suggests their origin from green algae, from which it follows that fungi are clearly a regressive group of plants that have lost chloroplasts.

The theory of animal origin is based on the fact that fungi are initially non-chlorophyll organisms, i.e. come from simple heterotrophic organisms, and not from algae. This theory is preferable, since achlorophyll-free algae accumulate starch as a reserve product. Mushrooms do not have starch.

The rigid cell wall is proteinaceous and contains chitin.

The body consists of long thin threads called hyphae. The collection of hyphae forms mycelium. Mycelium cells store carbohydrates in the form of glycogen.

Reproduction: asexual is carried out using spores. If spores are formed in special organs - sporangia, then sporulation is endogenous, if directly on vertical hyphae - exogenous sporulation.

Vegetative propagation is carried out by parts of the mycelium or by budding.

Mitosis and meiosis proceed without destruction of the karyolemma, a fission spindle is formed under it. After the distribution of chromosomes, the nucleus is separated by a constriction.

There are three forms of the sexual process:

gametogamy = fusion of gametes formed in gametangia. There can be isogamy, heterogamy, oogamy.

Somatogamy = fusion of two cells of vegetative mycelium;

Gametangiogamy = fusion of two sexual structures not differentiated into gametes.

Taxonomy: The department of real mushrooms is divided into six classes.

The lower fungi include:

Class Chytridiomycetes

Class Oomycetes

Class Zygomycetes.

To higher mushrooms:

Class Marsupials (ascomycetes)

Class Basidiomycetes

Class Imperfect fungi.

Lower fungi have a non-cellular structure (non-septate mycelium), because its hyphae are not divided into septa. Their body is represented by one giant branched multinucleate cell. For example, representatives of mold fungi belonging to zygomycetes. Higher fungi have a segmented (septate) body, multicellular with one or two nuclei. For example, ascomycetes and cap mushrooms belonging to basidiomycetes.

Class Zygomycetes. Mold fungi.

Reproduction can be asexual (spores), vegetative (parts of mycelium), and rarely sexual (zygogamy).

Zygogamy (gametangiogamy) is divided into several stages:

Formation of hyphae that are physiologically different: + female and – male.

Formation of thickened and isolated areas at the ends of the hyphae (gametangia are haploid);

Fusion of gametangia followed by nuclear fusion and formation of a zygote (2n); After a period of rest, the zygote divides by meiosis and grows into a hypha crowned with a sporangium.

Zygote germination.

Class marsupials (ascomycetes)

Ascomycetes are a class of higher fungi with multicellular mycelium and sporulation organs - bags (asci).

In these stroma, as a result of the sexual process, fruiting bodies are formed - perithecia, filled with long cylindrical bags - asci containing filamentous ascospores. Spores mature during the flowering of cereals, as a result of meiosis - these are spores of sexual reproduction.

These spores are actively released by the wind and land on the stigmas of cereals, where they germinate. The resulting mycelium penetrates the ovary of the cereal pistil and destroys it. At the outer ends of the mycelial hyphae, as a result of mitosis, conidia are released - spores of asexual reproduction, i.e. conidial sporulation occurs.

At the same time, the hyphae of the fungus secrete droplets of sweet liquid - honeydew. Insects transfer conidia to the flowers of neighboring plants and infect them. Sclerotia contain alkaloids that cause poisoning.

Penicillium- saprophyte mushroom. Has articulated mycelium. Hyphae extend upward - conidiophores, branching at the upper end, which are called sterigmata. Each segment is uninucleate. Sterigmata end in a chain of external spores - conidia. As a result of the sexual process, bags with eight ascospores are formed, which are placed inside a closed fruiting body - a cleistothecia. Fleming was the first to extract the antibiotic penicillin from the mycelium of penicillium. It is also used in the food industry for the preparation of special types of cheese.

Yeast- unicellular fungi from the class Ascomycetes. Their vegetative oval body is unicellular and mononuclear. There are a large number of species in nature. Due to the ability to ferment carbohydrates, breaking down glucose to form ethanol and carbon dioxide, brewer's, wine, baker's and other types of yeast have been introduced into culture.

They are characterized by a highly pronounced aerobic metabolism. The source of carbon is a variety of organic substances: sugars, alcohols, organic acids and others.

Reproduction is vegetative (by budding). With a lack of nutrition and excess oxygen, the sexual process occurs as hologamia. The zygote turns into a bursa, where 4 ascospores are meiotically formed, each of which develops into yeast cells.

Class Basidiomycetes

Unites almost all groups of cap mushrooms. The vegetative body is represented by septate mycelium, consisting of segmented hyphae. No special reproductive organs are formed. Sexual reproduction is carried out as follows:

The primary nonseptate mycelium develops from the germinating haploid basidiospore. Then this mycelium turns into segmented. Each segment is uninucleate. Then somatogamy occurs - the fusion of terminal hyphal cells with different sexual signs. BUT: the fusion of the contents (protoplast) of the segments is not accompanied by the fusion of the nuclei. Dikaryons are formed, which then divide synchronously. This is how secondary dikaryonic mycelium is formed.

A fruiting body is formed on the dikaryon mycelium, which consists of a stump (leg) and a cap. The hymenial layer of the cap (hymenophore) can be lamellar or tubular. In the hymenial layer, at the ends of dikaryonic hyphae, basidia are formed from two nuclear cells. In their development, the basidia resemble a bursa and are homologous to it. The sexual process is completed in the basidium, i.e. The dikaryon nuclei fuse to form a diploid nucleus. This nucleus divides by meiosis to form four basidiospores.

In higher fungi, three phases alternate in the development cycle: haploid, dikaryonic (lasts the main part of life) and diploid (short-term).

The meaning of mushrooms. Fungi participate in the cycle of substances in nature, mineralize organic substances and take part in the formation of humus. They are used in the food industry to produce alcohol, wine, beer, kvass, in baked goods, and in the production of proteins and vitamins. Fungi form organic active substances - antibiotics, enzymes, organic acids, etc. Fungi of the basidiomycetes class are of nutritional importance. Some species are poisonous to humans.

Section contents:

Mushroom mycelium

A mycelium is a complex infrastructure on which all the plants in the world are located. In ten cubic centimeters of soil you can find eight kilometers of its webs. The human foot is covered with about half a million kilometers of closely spaced webs. - Paul Stamets, mycologist What's going on in those webs? In the early 1990s, the idea first emerged that the network of these webs not only transferred food and chemicals, but was also a smart and self-learning communication network. Looking at even small sections of this network, it is easy to recognize a familiar structure. Internet graphics look exactly the same. The network branches, and if one of the branches fails, it is quickly replaced by workarounds. Its nodes, located in strategic areas, are better supplied with power due to less active places, and are enlarged. These webs have sensitivity. And each web can transmit information to the entire network. And there is no “central server”. Each web is independent, and the information it collects can be transmitted to the network in all directions. Thus, the basic model of the Internet has existed at all times, only it was hidden in the ground. The network itself seems to be able to grow indefinitely. For example, in Michigan, a mycelium was found that had grown underground over an area of nine square kilometers. It is estimated to be about 2000 years old.

When does a network decide to grow mushrooms?

Sometimes the reason is a danger to the future of the network. If the forest feeding the network burns, the mycelium stops receiving sugars from tree roots. Then she germinates mushrooms at her outermost ends so that they spread mushroom spores, “freeing” her genes and giving them the opportunity to find a new place. This is how the expression “mushrooms after the rain” appeared. Rain washes organic rot out of the ground and, in essence, deprives the network of its source of nutrition - then the network sends “rescue teams” with spores in search of a new refuge.

“Searching for a new home” is another thing that distinguishes mushrooms from the animal and plant kingdoms. There are fungi that spread their spores much like fruits spread their seeds. Others produce pheromones that cause living things to compulsively crave them. Collectors of white truffles use them to search for pigs, as the smell of these mushrooms is similar to the smell of alpha boar. However, there are more complex and cruel ways of spreading mushrooms. Observations of West African ants of the species Megaloponera foetens recorded that they annually climb tall trees and plunge their jaws into the trunk with such force that after this they cannot free themselves and die. Previously, cases of mass suicide of ants have not been observed.

It turned out that the insects act against their will, and someone else sends them to their death. The reason is the smallest spores of the fungus, which sometimes manage to get into the mouths of ants. Once in the insect's head, the spore sends chemicals to its brain. After this, the ant begins to climb the nearest tree and sinks its jaws into its bark. Here, as if waking up from a nightmare, he begins to try to free himself and, in the end, exhausted, he dies. After about two weeks, mushrooms sprout from his head.

On trees in Cameroon you can see hundreds of mushrooms growing from the bodies of ants. For fungi, this power over the brain is a means of reproduction: they use the ant's legs to climb a tree, and the height helps the wind disperse their spores; this is how they find new homes and... new ants. The Thai "zombie mushroom" Ophiocordyceps unilateralis encourages the ants that feed on it to climb the leaves of some plants. The distance that infected ants travel for this purpose significantly exceeds the distances in their normal life, and therefore, having reached the leaves, the insects die of fatigue and hunger, and two weeks later mushrooms sprout from their bodies.

These mushrooms are perhaps the most amazing creatures, as they produce chemicals similar to LSD, but we have yet to find a drug that causes behavior that suits someone's interests. And Professor David Hughes discovered fungi that control the brains of spiders, lice and flies. This is not a coincidence, natural selection, or a side effect of another process. These insects are sent against their will to places where they shouldn’t be, but the mushrooms like them. When the researchers transferred the infected ants to other leaves, the mushrooms simply did not germinate....

Fungi are achlorophyll-free, multicellular or unicellular organisms that feed heterotrophically. Mushrooms are divided into inferior And higher mushrooms.

Lower mushrooms- unicellular. This includes the well-known white mold, or mucor mushroom. This fungus often appears on bread and vegetables in the form of a fluffy white coating, which after a while turns black.

The mucor mycelium consists of thin, colorless filaments, although it is just one highly overgrown cell with many nuclei in the cytoplasm. Mucor reproduces by spores. Some threads of mycelium ( mycelium) rise up and expand at the ends in the form of black heads. Spores are formed here, which, after ripening, scatter and are carried by the wind.

By settling on food products, mucor causes their spoilage. In nature, mucor plays a positive role, decomposing the remains of dead organisms.

Penicillium settles on food and soil. Its mycelium consists of branching threads separated by septa into individual cells. This is how it differs from the mucor mushroom. Penicillium spores are located not in the heads, but at the ends of some filaments of the mycelium in small brushes.

Penicillium is bred specifically to produce medicine - penicillin, which is widely used to suppress many pathogenic bacteria, for example, with sore throat, inflammation of the middle ear, and pneumonia.

Microscopically small multicellular fungi of oval or elongated shape. Mycelium is not formed. They live in nutrient fluid rich in sugar. They reproduce by budding. First, a small bulge appears on the adult cell, which gradually increases and turns into an independent cell, which soon separates from the mother cell.

Budding yeast cells look like branching chains. In the dough, yeast breaks down sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. This releases the energy necessary for yeast to function. The carbon dioxide bubbles that form in the dough make it light and porous. This process has long been used in baking, brewing, winemaking and other industries and agriculture (feed yeast). Bread or brewer's yeast exists only in culture, while wine yeast is also found in nature on various juicy fruits.

Yeast can cause a disease of the mucous membranes - thrush. Thrush can also spread to internal organs.

Penicillium, Aspergillus and yeast fungi are classified as marsupial mushrooms, or they are also called ascomycetes, since as a result of the sexual process they form ascospores(from the Greek “askos” - bag, bag and spore).

Ascomycetes also include truffle mushrooms - very valuable edible mushrooms growing in deciduous forests and bushes in southern Europe.

The name “smut” is due to the fact that the ear on which the smut fungus develops is covered with a huge number of black spores and resembles a burnt smut.

Polypores, smut and rust fungi cause significant damage to forestry, gardens and parks. The main way to combat tinder fungi is sanitary cutting of diseased trees and their immediate removal. The main methods of combating smut and rust fungi are the breeding of resistant varieties of cultivated plants, compliance with the rules of agricultural technology, chemical treatment of plants, etc.

A special group of basidiomycete fungi are cap mushrooms. There are about 8,000 species, distributed throughout the globe. All of them are saprophytes in their feeding method. They got the name “cap” because fruiting bodies that look like stems and caps are formed on the surface of the mycelium. The stem of the mushroom is connected to the mycelium, and on the cap on the underside there are plates or tubes on which sporulation organs with spores are formed.

The fruiting bodies (leg and cap) of many cap mushrooms are edible, and in some they are poisonous and dangerous to human life.

The most valuable and edible body of the porcini mushroom is also called the boletus mushroom. Some mushrooms are known to have medicinal properties. This is a raincoat, porcini mushroom, champignons. They are excellent antiseptics.