Biological Classification

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BÅSÏDÏØMÝÇËTËS

1.

Includes mushrooms, bracket fungi or puffballs. (AIPMT 2007)

2.

They grow in soil, on logs and tree stumps and in living plant bodies as

parasites (e.g., rusts and smuts).

3.

The mycelium is branched and septate.

4.

The asexual spores are generally not found, but

vegetative reproduction by fragmentation is common.

5.

The sex organs are absent, but plasmogamy occurs

by fusion of two vegetative or somatic cells of different

strains or genotypes.

6.

The resultant structure is dikaryotic which gives rise

to basidium. Karyogamy and meiosis take place in

basidium producing four basidiospores. Basidiospores are exogenously

produced on the basidium. Basidia are arranged in fruiting bodies

(basidiocarps). E.g. Agaricus (mushroom), Ustilago (smut) and Puccinia

(rust fungus).

DËÜTËRØMÝÇËTËS

1

2

When the perfect (sexual) stages of these fungi were

discovered they were moved into other classes (often to

ascomycetes and basidiomycetes)

Commonly known as imperfect fungi because only the

asexual or vegetative phases of these fungi are known.

(AIPMT 2015)

3

4

They reproduce only by asexual spores (conidia).

It is also possible that asexual and vegetative stage have

been given one name (and placed under deuteromycetes)

and the sexual stage another (and placed under another

class). When the linkages were established, the fungi were

correctly identified and moved out of deuteromycetes

5

6

Some are saprophytes or parasites. Majority are

decomposers of litter and help in mineral cycling.

E.g. Alternaria, Colletotrichum and Trichoderma.

The mycelium is septate and branched.