Transcript Fungus Among Us - lovettlifescience

Fungus Among Us
Welcome to the Wonderful
World of Fungi
Fungi Facts
• Fungi recycle plants after they die and turn
them into rich soil
• Beautiful dyes are made from fungi
• Some fungi have chemicals in them that
fight cancer
• Some mushroom grow in Fairy Rings that
are over 10,000 years old around
Stonehenge in England.
Button Mushrooms!
• Also known as: Agaricus bisporus
• Commonly known as Portabella, Crimini,
and Baby Bella These are all the same
mushroom
Beautiful Fungi
Truffles
White Truffle
• A New York restaurateur has paid a record
$53,800 for a 1.08kg Italian white truffle at
auction, according to the World News.
What are Mushrooms?
• Mushrooms are the spore-producing
reproductive structures of certain kinds of
fungi.
What Exactly are Fungi?
• They help make your bread light and fluffy
and are used to ferment beer they are
called Yeast
• Or on your old piece of bread
• It can grow on your shower curtain as
mold or between your toes (ugh!!)
Decomposers
• Decompose or breakdown organic
materials
• Fungi and bacteria are natures recyclers.
Saprophytes
 A fungus secretes an enzyme that
digests food outside itself
 fungus cells absorb this food
Characteristics
• Grow in warm, humid conditions
• Body of a fungus is made of tiny
thread-like tubes called HYPHAE
Hyphae
Usually grow underground
 It feeds, grows and ultimately produces a
new mushroom

Mycelium
When you grow mushrooms and you send
off for a growing kit, you may be sent
something called mycelium.
Mycelium is a collective term referring to a
a large quantity of hyphae.
Spores
 Reproductive cells that form new fungi
without fertilization.
 The structures in which make these
spores are used to classify fungi.
 You can make a spore print with a freshly
picked mushroom cap
Chitin
• Spores are made of chitin
• The hardest naturally made substance on
Earth
• Some scientists believe that spores are
capable of space travel
• Some believe that fungi found on Earth
originally came from outer space!!!
Spore Prints
• Rust Spores These are the spores of a parasitic fungus that
forms orangish-red colored spots on the leaves and stems of
plants it grows on. It's called rust because of its color. The
fungus usually doesn't kill its host, but may cause stunting
and discoloration of the plant.
Yeast


Yeast produce by budding as well as with
spores.
Budding- a form of asexual reproduction in
which a new organism grows off the side of
the parent.
Lichens
• An organism that is made of a fungus and
either a green algae or a cynobacterium
• The form a symbiotic relationship where
both organisms benefit from each other
Lichen
 They
are a food source for many
animals
 Some grow on bare rock
 Lichens help breakdown rocks
Killer Fungus