Blastocladiomycota

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Blastocladiomycota
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Zoosporangia of an Allomyces sp. sporophyte growing on agar
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Subkingdom: Blastocladiomyceta
Division: Blastocladiomycota
T.Y.James (2006) [1]
Classes and orders

Blastocladiomycota is one of the currently recognized phyla within the kingdom Fungi. [3] Blastocladiomycota was originally the order Blastocladiales within the phylum Chytridiomycota until molecular and zoospore ultrastructural characters were used to demonstrate it was not monophyletic with Chytridiomycota. [1] The order was first erected by Petersen for a single genus, Blastocladia, which was originally considered a member of the oomycetes. [4] Accordingly, members of Blastocladiomycota are often referred to colloquially as "chytrids." However, some feel "chytrid" should refer only to members of Chytridiomycota. [5] Thus, members of Blastocladiomycota are commonly called "blastoclads" by mycologists. Alternatively, members of Blastocladiomycota, Chytridiomycota, and Neocallimastigomycota lumped together as the zoosporic true fungi. Blastocladiomycota contains 5 families and approximately 12 genera. [6] This early diverging branch of kingdom Fungi is the first to exhibit alternation of generations. [7] As well, two (once) popular model organisms Allomyces macrogynus and Blastocladiella emersonii—belong to this phylum. [5]

Contents

Morphology

Morphology in Blastocladiomycota varies greatly. For example, members of Coelomycetaceae are simple, unwalled, and plasmodial in nature. Some species in Blastocladia are monocentric, like the chytrids, while others are polycentric. The most remarkable are those members, such as Allomyces that demonstrate determinant, differentiated growth. [4] [5]

Reproduction/life cycle

Sexual reproduction

As stated above, some members of Blastocladiomycota exhibit alternation of generations. Members of this phylum also exhibit a form of sexual reproduction known as anisogamy. [4] Anisogamy is the fusion of two sexual gametes that differ in morphology, usually size. [5] In Allomyces , the thallus (body) is attached by rhizoids, and has an erect trunk on which reproductive organs are formed at the end of branches. During the haploid phase, the thallus forms male and female gametangia that release flagellated gametes. Gametes attract one another using pheromones and eventually fuse to form a Zygote. The germinated zygote produces a diploid thallus with two types of sporangia: thin-walled zoosporangia and thick walled resting spores (or sporangia). The thin walled sporangia release diploid zoospores. The resting spore serves as a means of enduring unfavorable conditions. When conditions are favorable again, meiosis occurs and haploid zoospores are released. These germinate and grow into haploid thalli that will produce “male” and “female” gametangia and gametes. [5]

Asexual reproduction

Similar to Chytridiomycota, members of Blastocladiomycota produce asexual zoospores to colonize new substrates. In some species, a curious phenomenon has been observed in the asexual zoospores. From time to time, asexual zoospores will pair up and exchange cytoplasm but not nuclei. [4]

Ecological roles

Plant leaf with Physoderma menyanthis (former Cladochytrium menyanthis) signs Cladochytrium menyanthis - Lindsey.jpg
Plant leaf with Physoderma menyanthis (former Cladochytrium menyanthis) signs

Similar to Chytridiomycota, members of Blastocladiomycota are capable of growing on refractory materials, such as pollen, keratin, cellulose, and chitin. [4] The best known species, however, are the parasites. Members of Catenaria are parasites of nematodes, midges, crustaceans, and even another blastoclad, Coelomyces. [5] Members of the genus Physoderma and Urophlyctis are obligate plant parasites. [5] Of economic importance is Physoderma maydis , a parasite of maize and the causal agent of brown spot disease. [5] Also of importance are the species of Urophlyctis that parasitize alfalfa. [8] However, ecologically, Physoderma are important parasites of many aquatic and marsh angiosperms. [4] Also of human interest, for health reasons, are members of Coelomomyces , an unusual parasite of mosquitoes that requires an alternate crustacean host (the same one parasitized by members of Catenaria) to complete its life cycle. [4] Others that are ecologically interesting include a parasite of water bears and the zooplankter Daphnia . [8]

Taxonomy

Based on the work of Philippe Silar [9] and "The Mycota: A Comprehensive Treatise on Fungi as Experimental Systems for Basic and Applied Research" [10] and synonyms from "Part 1- Virae, Prokarya, Protists, Fungi". [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chytridiomycota</span> Division of fungi

Chytridiomycota are a division of zoosporic organisms in the kingdom Fungi, informally known as chytrids. The name is derived from the Ancient Greek χυτρίδιον (khutrídion), meaning "little pot", describing the structure containing unreleased zoospores. Chytrids are one of the earliest diverging fungal lineages, and their membership in kingdom Fungi is demonstrated with chitin cell walls, a posterior whiplash flagellum, absorptive nutrition, use of glycogen as an energy storage compound, and synthesis of lysine by the α-amino adipic acid (AAA) pathway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zygomycota</span> Division or phylum of the kingdom Fungi

Zygomycota, or zygote fungi, is a former division or phylum of the kingdom Fungi. The members are now part of two phyla: the Mucoromycota and Zoopagomycota. Approximately 1060 species are known. They are mostly terrestrial in habitat, living in soil or on decaying plant or animal material. Some are parasites of plants, insects, and small animals, while others form symbiotic relationships with plants. Zygomycete hyphae may be coenocytic, forming septa only where gametes are formed or to wall off dead hyphae. Zygomycota is no longer recognised as it was not believed to be truly monophyletic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oomycete</span> Fungus-like eukaryotic microorganism

The Oomycetes, or Oomycota, form a distinct phylogenetic lineage of fungus-like eukaryotic microorganisms within the Stramenopiles. They are filamentous and heterotrophic, and can reproduce both sexually and asexually. Sexual reproduction of an oospore is the result of contact between hyphae of male antheridia and female oogonia; these spores can overwinter and are known as resting spores. Asexual reproduction involves the formation of chlamydospores and sporangia, producing motile zoospores. Oomycetes occupy both saprophytic and pathogenic lifestyles, and include some of the most notorious pathogens of plants, causing devastating diseases such as late blight of potato and sudden oak death. One oomycete, the mycoparasite Pythium oligandrum, is used for biocontrol, attacking plant pathogenic fungi. The oomycetes are also often referred to as water molds, although the water-preferring nature which led to that name is not true of most species, which are terrestrial pathogens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mucorales</span> Order of fungi

The Mucorales is the largest and best-studied order of zygomycete fungi. Members of this order are sometimes called pin molds. The term mucormycosis is now preferred for infections caused by molds belonging to the order Mucorales.

Neocallimastigomycota is a phylum containing anaerobic fungi, which are symbionts found in the digestive tracts of larger herbivores. Anaerobic fungi were originally placed within phylum Chytridiomycota, within Order Neocallimastigales but later raised to phylum level, a decision upheld by later phylogenetic reconstructions. It encompasses only one family.

Hyphochytrids are eukaryotic organisms in the group of Stramenopiles (Heterokonta).

In botany, a zoid or zoïd is a reproductive cell that possesses one or more flagella, and is capable of independent movement. Zoid can refer to either an asexually reproductive spore or a sexually reproductive gamete. In sexually reproductive gametes, zoids can be either male or female depending on the species. For example, some brown alga (Phaeophyceae) reproduce by producing multi-flagellated male and female gametes that recombine to form the diploid sporangia. Zoids are primarily found in some protists, diatoms, green alga, brown alga, non-vascular plants, and a few vascular plants. The most common classification group that produces zoids is the heterokonts or stramenopiles. These include green alga, brown alga, oomycetes, and some protists. The term is generally not used to describe motile, flagellated sperm found in animals. Zoid is also commonly confused for zooid which is a single organism that is part of a colonial animal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chytridiales</span> Order of fungi

Fungi of the order Chytridiales, like other members of its division, may either have a monocentric thallus or a polycentric rhizomycelium. When the ribosomal genes of members classified in this order were first examined using molecular techniques, it was discovered that the order contained some species that were not related. With the culture and characterization of Chytridium olla, the type species of this order, the limits of the Chytridiales were established. The Chytridiales is now monophyletic and species such as Polychytrium aggregatum, Chytriomyces angularis and Cladochytrium replicatum have been transferred to other orders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhizophydiales</span> Order of fungi

Rhizophydiales are an important group of chytrid fungi. They are found in soil as well as marine and fresh water habitats where they function as parasites and decomposers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monoblepharidomycetes</span> Class of fungi

Members of the Monoblepharidomycetes have a filamentous thallus that is either extensive or simple and unbranched. They frequently have a holdfast at the base. In contrast to other taxa in their phylum, some reproduce using autospores, although many do so through zoospores. Oogamous sexual reproduction may also occur.

<i>Rozella</i> Genus of fungi

Rozella is a fungal genus of obligate endoparasites of a variety of hosts, including Oomycota, Chytridiomycota, and Blastocladiomycota. Rozella was circumscribed by French mycologist Marie Maxime Cornu in 1872. Considered one of the earliest diverging lineages of fungi, the widespread genus contains 27 species, with the most well studied being Rozella allomycis. Rozella is a member of a large clade of fungi referred to as the Cryptomycota/Rozellomycota. While some can be maintained in dual culture with the host, most have not been cultured, but they have been detected, using molecular techniques, in soil samples, and in freshwater and marine ecosystems. Zoospores have been observed, along with cysts, and the cells of some species are attached to diatoms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holomycota</span> Clade containing fungi and some protists

Holomycota or Nucletmycea are a basal Opisthokont clade as sister of the Holozoa. It consists of the Cristidiscoidea and the kingdom Fungi. The position of nucleariids, unicellular free-living phagotrophic amoebae, as the earliest lineage of Holomycota suggests that animals and fungi independently acquired complex multicellularity from a common unicellular ancestor and that the osmotrophic lifestyle was originated later in the divergence of this eukaryotic lineage. Opisthosporidians is a recently proposed taxonomic group that includes aphelids, Microsporidia and Cryptomycota, three groups of endoparasites.

<i>Synchytrium</i> Genus of fungi

Synchytrium is a large genus of plant pathogens within the phylum Chytridiomycota. Species are commonly known as false rust or wart disease. Approximately 200 species are described, and all are obligate parasites of angiosperms, ferns, or mosses. Early species were mistakenly classified among the higher fungi because of their superficial similarity to the rust fungi. Anton de Bary and Mikhail S. Woronin recognized the true nature of these fungi and established the genus to accommodate Synchytrium taraxaci, which grows on dandelions, and S. succisae, which grows on Succisa pratensis. Synchytrium taraxaci is the type of the genus. The genus has been divided into 6 subgenera based on differences in life cycles.

Olpidium is a fungal genus in the family Olpidiaceae. Members of Olpidium are zoosporic pathogens of plants, animals, fungi, and oomycetes.

Olpidiaceae is a fungal plant pathogen family of genera that was placed in the order Olpidiales.

Allomyces macrogynus is a species of fungus in the family Blastocladiaceae. It was first described by mycologist Ralph Emerson in 1941 as a variety of Allomyces javanicus, and later given distinct species status in 1954. Its genome has been sequenced by the Broad Institute.

<i>Allomyces</i> Genus of fungi

Allomyces is a genus of fungi in the family Blastocladiaceae. It was circumscribed by British mycologist Edwin John Butler in 1911. Species in the genus have a polycentric thallus and reproduce sexually or asexually by zoospores that have a whiplash-like flagella. They are mostly isolated from soils in tropical countries, commonly in ponds, rice fields, and slow-moving rivers.

<i>Physoderma</i> Genus of fungi

Physoderma is a genus of chytrid fungi. Described by German botanist Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Wallroth in 1833, the genus contains some species that are parasitic on vascular plants, including P. alfalfae and P. maydis, causative agents of crown wart of alfalfa and brown spot of corn, respectively. Of the chytrid genera, Physoderma is the oldest. However, species were confused with the rust fungi, the genus Synchytrium, and the genus Protomyces of Ascomycota. Members of Physoderma are obligate parasites of pteridophytes and angiosperms. There are approximately 80 species within this genus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aphelida</span> Phylum of fungi

Aphelida is a phylum of Fungi that appears to be the sister to true fungi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Physodermataceae</span> Family of fungi

Physodermatacae is a family of chytrid fungi in the order Physodermatales. Species in the family have a parasitic relationship with the host's physoderma. This family is distinctive in that it contains a thick wall around the sporangia to resist against unfavorable conditions. Sporangia releases from a host plant when rotting, dispersal is carried through the air. This family is not to be confused or related to basidiomycetes rusts and smut fungi. This parasite is distributed all across the world in aquatic, semi aquatic wetlands and in some ferns.

References

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  2. Tedersoo, Leho; Sanchez-Ramırez, Santiago; Koljalg, Urmas; Bahram, Mohammad; Doring, Markus; Schigel, Dmitry; May, Tom; Ryberg, Martin; Abarenkov, Kessy (22 February 2018). "High-level classification of the Fungi and a tool for evolutionary ecological analyses". Fungal Diversity. 90 (1): 135–159. doi: 10.1007/s13225-018-0401-0 .
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  7. Kendrick, Bryce. 2000. The Fifth Kingdom. 3rd edition Focus Publishing: Newburyport, MA.
  8. 1 2 Schaechter M. (2011). Eukaryotic Microbes. Academic Press. p. 116. ISBN   978-0-12-383877-3.
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  11. "Part 1- Virae, Prokarya, Protists, Fungi". Collection of genus-group names in a systematic arrangement. Archived from the original on 14 August 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2016.