What is the difference between the hyphae of ascomycota and zygomycota

The chytrids are the simplest and most primitive Eumycota, or true fungi. The evolutionary record shows that the first recognizable chytrids appeared during the late pre-Cambrian period, more than million years ago. Like all fungi, chytrids have chitin in their cell walls, but one group of chytrids has both cellulose and chitin in the cell wall. Most chytrids are unicellular; a few form multicellular organisms and hyphae, which have no septa between cells coenocytic.

They produce gametes and diploid zoospores that swim with the help of a single flagellum. The ecological habitat and cell structure of chytrids have much in common with protists.

Chytrids usually live in aquatic environments, although some species live on land. Some species thrive as parasites on plants, insects, or amphibians [link] , while others are saprobes. The chytrid species Allomyces is well characterized as an experimental organism. Its reproductive cycle includes both asexual and sexual phases.

Allomyces produces diploid or haploid flagellated zoospores in a sporangium. The zygomycetes are a relatively small group of fungi belonging to the Phylum Zygomycota. They include the familiar bread mold, Rhizopus stolonifer , which rapidly propagates on the surfaces of breads, fruits, and vegetables. Most species are saprobes, living off decaying organic material; a few are parasites, particularly of insects.

Zygomycetes play a considerable commercial role. The metabolic products of other species of Rhizopus are intermediates in the synthesis of semi-synthetic steroid hormones. Zygomycetes have a thallus of coenocytic hyphae in which the nuclei are haploid when the organism is in the vegetative stage. The fungi usually reproduce asexually by producing sporangiospores [link].

The black tips of bread mold are the swollen sporangia packed with black spores [link]. When spores land on a suitable substrate, they germinate and produce a new mycelium. Sexual reproduction starts when conditions become unfavorable. The developing diploid zygospores have thick coats that protect them from desiccation and other hazards. They may remain dormant until environmental conditions are favorable. When the zygospore germinates, it undergoes meiosis and produces haploid spores, which will, in turn, grow into a new organism.

The majority of known fungi belong to the Phylum Ascomycota , which is characterized by the formation of an ascus plural, asci , a sac-like structure that contains haploid ascospores.

Many ascomycetes are of commercial importance. Some play a beneficial role, such as the yeasts used in baking, brewing, and wine fermentation, plus truffles and morels, which are held as gourmet delicacies. Aspergillus oryzae is used in the fermentation of rice to produce sake. Other ascomycetes parasitize plants and animals, including humans. For example, fungal pneumonia poses a significant threat to AIDS patients who have a compromised immune system.

Ascomycetes not only infest and destroy crops directly; they also produce poisonous secondary metabolites that make crops unfit for consumption. Filamentous ascomycetes produce hyphae divided by perforated septa, allowing streaming of cytoplasm from one cell to the other. Conidia and asci, which are used respectively for asexual and sexual reproductions, are usually separated from the vegetative hyphae by blocked non-perforated septa.

Asexual reproduction is frequent and involves the production of conidiophores that release haploid conidiospores [link]. Eventually, the secondary mycelium generates a basidiocarp, which is a fruiting body that protrudes from the ground; this is what we think of as a mushroom.

The basidiocarp bears the developing basidia on the gills under its cap. Lifecycle of a basidiomycete : The lifecycle of a basidiomycete alternates generation with a prolonged stage in which two nuclei dikaryon are present in the hyphae. Phylum Deuteromycota is a polyphyletic group of asexually-reproducing fungi that do not display a sexual phase; they are known as imperfect.

Imperfect fungi are those that do not display a sexual phase. They are classified as belonging to the form Phylum Deuteromycota. Deuteromycota is a polyphyletic group where many species are more closely related to organisms in other phyla than to each other; hence it cannot be called a true phylum and must, instead, be given the name form phylum. Since they do not possess the sexual structures that are used to classify other fungi, they are less well described in comparison to other divisions.

Most members live on land, with a few aquatic exceptions. They form visible mycelia with a fuzzy appearance and are commonly known as mold. Molecular analysis shows that the closest group to the deuteromycetes is the ascomycetes. In fact, some species, such as Aspergillus , which were once classified as imperfect fungi, are now classified as ascomycetes. Example of an imperfect fungus : Aspergillus niger is an imperfect fungus commonly found as a food contaminant.

The spherical structure in this light micrograph is a conidiophore. Reproduction of Deuteromycota is strictly asexual, occuring mainly by production of asexual conidiospores. Some hyphae may recombine and form heterokaryotic hyphae. Genetic recombination is known to take place between the different nuclei. Imperfect fungi have a large impact on everyday human life. The food industry relies on them for ripening some cheeses.

The blue veins in Roquefort cheese and the white crust on Camembert are the result of fungal growth. The antibiotic penicillin was originally discovered on an overgrown Petri plate on which a colony of Penicillium fungi killed the bacterial growth surrounding it. Many imperfect fungi cause serious diseases, either directly as parasites which infect both plants and humans , or as producers of potent toxic compounds, as seen in the aflatoxins released by fungi of the genus Aspergillus.

Glomeromycetes are an important group of fungi that live in close symbiotic association with the roots of trees and plants. In the kingdom Fungi, the Glomeromycota is a newly-established phylum comprised of about species that live in close association with the roots of trees and plants. Fossil records indicate that trees and their root symbionts share a long evolutionary history. It appears that most members of this family form arbuscular mycorrhizae: the hyphae interact with the root cells forming a mutually-beneficial association where the plants supply the carbon source and energy in the form of carbohydrates to the fungus while the fungus supplies essential minerals from the soil to the plant.

This association is termed biotrophic. The Glomeromycota species that have arbuscular mycorrhizal are terrestrial and widely distributed in soils worldwide where they form symbioses with the roots of the majority of plant species. They can also be found in wetlands, including salt-marshes, and are associated with epiphytic plants.

Glyomeromycetes and tree roots : This image illustrates the bitrophic relationship between a glomeromycota Gigaspora margarita and the roots of a plant Lotus corniculatus. The glomeromycetes do not reproduce sexually and cannot survive without the presence of plant roots.

They have coenocytic hyphae and reproduce asexually, producing glomerospores. The biochemical and genetic characterization of the Glomeromycota has been hindered by their biotrophic nature, which impedes laboratory culturing. This obstacle was eventually surpassed with the use of root cultures. With the advent of molecular techniques, such as gene sequencing, the phylogenetic classification of Glomeromycota has become clearer.

This gene is highly conserved and commonly used in phylogenetic studies so it was isolated from spores of each taxonomic group. Using a molecular clock approach based on the substitution rates of SSU sequences, scientists were able to estimate the time of divergence of the fungi.

This analysis shows that all glomeromycetes probably descended from a common ancestor and million years ago, making them a monophyletic lineage. A long-held theory is that Glomeromycota were instrumental in the colonization of land by plants.

Privacy Policy. Skip to main content. Fungi use absorptive nutrition :. Fungi are too small to ingest their prey whole, and they lack mechanical means of biting off and chewing their prey. Fungi feed by secreting enzymes into their environment that partially digest their food. They then absorb simple nutrients like sugars and amino acids through holes in their cell membranes. For this reason, fungi tend to live in their food.

Nematode trapping fungi above have special structures that can hold prey in place while the enzymes do their work. Chitin is a substance similar to wood. Wood cellulose , however is made of glucose molecules linked together in unbranching chains, whereas chitin is made of N-acetyl glucosamine molecules linked together in unbranching chains.

The main difference is the N nitrogen atom in the N-acetyl glucosamine molecules. Chitin is the substance that makes up the shells of arthropods such as insects and spiders also. Above is a comparison of cellulose and chitin at the molecular level. Introduction to fungi. Look at the diagram below: Ascomycota Basidiomycota Zygomycota Chytridiomycota The phylogram above shows the main groups of fungi and can be interpreted simply: Basidiomycota and Ascomycota are more closely related to one another than either is to Zygomycota or Chytridiomycota.

Continue on to Morphological Diversity and Life Cycles Quick links to Content. I ntroduction to Fungal Biology. M orphological Diversity and Life Cycles.

F ungal Ecology. S ystematics and Fungal Phylogeny. F ungal Molecular Ecology. Some fungi in this division also produce penicillin antibiotics. Moreover, the fungi that provide the distinctive characteristics of Rouquefort and Camembert cheese are also members of Deuteromycota. Ascomycota is a phylum of fungi that shows both asexual and sexual reproduction, while Deuteromycota is a phylum of fungi that shows only asexual reproduction but not sexual reproduction.

So, this is the key difference between Ascomycota and Deuteromycota. Furthermore, Ascomycota is a taxonomic group of perfect fungi, while Deuteromycota is a taxonomic group of imperfect fungi. The following infographic tabulates the difference between Ascomycota and Deuteromycota for side by side comparison. The kingdom fungi is classified into various forms using different characters.

Ascomycota and Deuteromycota are two divisions of kingdom fungi. Thus, this is the difference between Ascomycota and Deuteromycota. Piepenbring — M. Samanthi Udayangani holds a B. Degree in Plant Science, M. Your email address will not be published.