major fungi groups - Chytridiomycota, Zygomycota, Basidiomycota, Asomycota 

• Chytridiomycota - aquatic fungi w/ flagella
  • proves that fungi/animals first originated from water
• Zygomycota - includes bread molds, Glomales (helps terrestrial plants)
  • no septa until they form sporangia/gametangia
  • zygosporangium - area where haploid nuclei fuse, has a thick coat to help fungus survive in bad conditions
• Basidiomycota - includes mushrooms, toadstools, rusts, smuts
  • basidium - club-shaped reproductive structure
  • meiosis occurs immediately after diploid cell forms
  • primary mycelium - made of monokaryotic hyphae
  • secondary mycelium - made of dikaryotic hyphae
  • basidiocarps - mushroom tops, consists of only secondary mycelium
• Ascomycota - contains 75% of known fungi
  • bread yeasts, truffles, common molds
  • ascus - saclike reproductive structure
  • meiosis occurs immediately after diploid cell forms
  • 8 haploid ascospores form from diploid cell
  • ascus can burst >> spreads spores out very far
  • asexual reproduction in conidia

lichens - symbiosis between fungus and photosynthetic organism 

• photosynthetic organism found between the filaments in the fungus
• fungus sometimes feeds off photosynthetic host (but usually mutualism)
• fungus penetrates cell wall, not cell membrane
• able to survive in harshest environments
• pollution decrease >> lichen increase

Mycorrhizae - symbiosis between fungus and plant roots 

• fungus helps plants absorb nutrients from the soil
• plants supply fungus w/ carbon
• arbuscular mycorrhizae - hyphae penetrate outer cells of plant root
  • forms coils, swelling
  • formed w/ earliest terrestrial plants
  • epiparasite - non-photosynthetic plant that feeds off of mycorrhizae
• ectomycorrhizae - hyphae surrounds root, doesn’t penetrate
  • less common than arbuscular mycorrhizae
  • found w/ forest trees, orchids

endophytes - fungi that live inside plants 

• parasitism or commensalisms
• could produce toxins to protect plant from herbivores

parasitic fungi - difficult to treat due to close relationship w/ animals 

• Candida - causes oral/vaginal infections
• chytridiomycosis - parasitic symbiosis between fungus and frogs
• Fusarium - produces vomitoxin on spoiled foods >> brain damage
• aflatoxins - carcinogenic compound produced by fungus growing on corn, peanuts, cotton seed