FUNGAL STRUCTURE
The fungal body is an assemblage of long, extremely fine, almost
transparent threads called hyphae. Numerous hyphae
twined around one another to form mycelium (pl.mycelia).
Fungal Hyphae
Fungal hyphae are thin, tubular, transparent threads Or
filaments filled with protoplasm and covered by wall.
The hyphae in fungi are of following types
i. Aseptate Hyphae
In aseptate hyphae, cross walls or septae are not formed at
the time of nuclear division. Such hyphae are
multinucleate. If a mycelium contains aseptate and
multinucleate hyphae, it is called coenocytic hyphae.
ii. Septate Hyphae
In this type, cross walls or septae form after the nuclear
division. The cells may have one, two or many nuclei.
These have septal pores or cross walls in their hyphae, which
allow movement of substances between adjacent cells.
V Dolipore Septum
The central septal pore contains a barrel-shaped inflammation
in many Basidiomycetes. This kind of septum is called dolipore
septum. These pores may get partially plugged by membrane
bound bodies and crystalline structures called woronin bodies.
Fungal Tissues
In fungi, fungal tissue is formed by interweaving of fungal
hyphae called as plectenchyma. It can be further divided as
prosenchyma and pseudoparenchyma.
Prosenchyma is formed Of distinct hyphae running
together in parallel, while pseudoparenchyma is a false
parenchyma formed by close packing and fusion of hyphae.
Fungal Cell
Fungi are eukaryotic cells. A cell wall is present on the
outside, made of chitin and polysaccharide. They possess
all the eukaryotic cell organelles except plastids.
Plasmalemma bears coiled membranous outgrowths called
lomasomes lying below the cell wall. Near the hyphal tip
the cytoplasm contains small vesicles called chitosomes.
These contain cell wall materials. Food reserve is in the
form of glycogen and oil.
During cell division, the nuclear envelope may not dissolve
as in plant and animal cells.