Introduction to Mycology MIMM211

Introduction to Mycology

• Course code: MIMM211
• Instructor: François Le Mauff, PhD
• Contact information provided

Land Acknowledgment

• McGill University is on land that was traditionally a site of meeting and exchange for Indigenous peoples, particularly the Haudenosaunee and Anishinabeg.
• Acknowledgment and thanks to those Indigenous peoples.

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Disclaimer

• Fungi come in various colours, shapes, sexualities, and lifestyles.
• There is no discrimination within the fungal kingdom.
• Students should contact the instructor if the course impairs their learning experience.

Exam Information

• The final exam will cover information presented in the slides and class content.
• Fungi names will not be asked on the exam.

Course Content

• The course has five themes:
  • Introduction
  • Fungi & environment
  • Fungi & agriculture
  • Medical mycology
  • Fungi in the future

Case Study 1 - Penicillin Discovery

• 43-year-old policeman, survivor of an air raid, developed a rash, eye infection, and fever.
• Given experimental therapy, fever resolved, swelling reduced.
• Therapy stopped, relapse and death occurred.
• The first antibiotic was isolated from fungi in London, UK, in 1928.
• This was penicillin.
• The production and purification of penicillin occurred in the early 1940s.

Case Study 2 - Mucormycosis

• 14-year-old girl with Type 1 Diabetes presented with eye pain, headache, and a protruding left eye.
• Intranasal exam showed a black patch.
• Rapidly became comatose due to abscess in the frontal lobe.
• Begun on broad spectrum antifungal therapy.
• Cardiac arrest five days after admission.
• Mucormycosis is an invasive, aggressive fungal infection, which causes deaths, specifically in India.

The Good and Bad Sides of Fungi

• The bad:

  • Infection (invasive and superficial).
  • Intoxication (aflatoxicosis, ergot alkaloids, toxic mushrooms, toxic building syndrome).
  • Allergies (asthma, sinusitis).

• The good:

  • Pharmaceutical industry (antibiotics, like penicillin; other pharmaceuticals).
  • Food industry (mushrooms, yeast in baking/fermentation, cheeses, enzymes).

Biodegradation

• Fungi decompose organic material, including plastics, lumber, building materials, and food waste.

A Mostly Unknown Kingdom

• Fungi are widespread on Earth.
• The exact number of species is uncertain (estimated 1.5 to 12 million).
• Currently, only about 150,000 species have been identified.
• The rate of discovery is approximately 1,000 to 2,000 species per year.

What is a Fungi?

• Characteristics:

  • Eukaryote
  • Chitin-based cell wall
  • Heterotrophy (cannot produce their own food)
  • Unicellular or multicellular
  • Asexual and sexual reproduction

• Fungal cells:

• Have true nuclei, secretory pathways (ER, Golgi), mitochondria, vacuoles.

• Cell walls contain ergosterol.

Fungal Lifestyles

• Saprotrophs: obtain nutrients from dead organic matter.
• Parasites: obtain nutrients from living hosts.
• Symbionts: form partnerships with other organisms.
• Predators: trap and kill other organisms.

Fungal Morphology

• Yeasts: Unicellular, reproduce by budding or fission.
• Molds: Filamentous, contain multiple nuclei.
• Hyphae: Thread-like structures.
• Septa: Cross-walls that divide some hyphae.
• Mycelium: Network of hyphae.
• Fruiting body: Reproductive structure.

Fungal Sexuality

• Fungi can be asexual (reproducing by mitosis), producing an asexual form called an anamorph.
• Fungi can also reproduce sexually (reproducing by meiosis) forming a teleomorph.
• This can be heterothallic (different mating types) or homothallic (same mating type)
• Fungal sexuality is fluid.

Taxonomy

• Fungal phylogeny is constantly evolving.
• There are three main groups of fungi: zoosporic, zygomycetous, and dikarya.
• Students should generally understand the different groups but are not required to memorize the specific names of subphyla and classes.

Next Lecture

• Environmental mycology