Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi
A symbiotic fungus whose hyphae grow through the cell wall of plant roots and extend into the root cell (enclosed in tubes formed by invagination of the root cell plasma membrane).
Ascocarp
The fruiting body of a sac fungus (ascomycete).
Ascomycete
Member of the fungal phylum Ascomycota, commonly called sac fungus. The name comes from the saclike structure in which the spores develop.
Basidiocarp
Elaborate fruiting body of a dikaryotic mycelium of a club fungus.
Basidiomycete
Member of the fungal phylum Basidiomycota, commonly called club fungus. The name comes from the club-like shape of the basidium.
Basidium
A reproductive appendage that produces sexual spores on the gills of mushrooms (club fungi).
Chitin
A structural polysaccharide, consisting of amino sugar monomers, found in many fungal cell walls and in the exoskeletons of all arthropods.
Deuteromycetes
Traditional classification for a fungus with no known sexual stage.
Dikaryotic
Referring to a fungal mycelium with two haploid nuclei per cell, one from each parent.
Ectomycorrhizal Fungus
A symbiotic fungus that forms sheaths of hyphae over the surface of plant roots and also grows into extracellular spaces of the root cortex.
Endophyte
A fungus that lives inside a leaf or other plant part without causing harm to the plant.
Glomeromycete
Member of the fungal phylum Glomeromycota, characterized by a distinct branching form of mycorrhizae called arbuscular mycorrhizae.
Haustorium
In certain symbiotic fungi, a specialized hypha that can penetrate the tissues of host organisms.
Heterokaryon
A fungal mycelium that contains two or more haploid nuclei per cell.
Hypha
One of many connected filaments that collectively make up the mycelium of a fungus.
Karyogamy
In fungi, the fusion of haploid nuclei contributed by the two parents; occurs as one stage of sexual reproduction, preceded by plasmogamy.
Lichen
The mutualistic association between a fungus and a photosynthetic alga or cyanobacterium.
Mycorrhiza
A mutualistic association of plant roots and fungus.
Nucleariid
Member of a group of unicellular, amoeboid protists that are more closely related to fungi than they are to other protists.
Opisthokont
Member of the diverse clade Opisthokonta, organisms that descended from an ancestor with a posterior flagellum, including fungi, animals, and certain protists.
Pheromone
In animals and fungi, a small molecule released into the environment that functions in communication between members of the same species. In animals, it acts much like a hormone in influencing physiology and behavior.
Septum
One of the cross-walls that divide a fungal hypha into cells. Septa generally have pores large enough to allow ribosomes, mitochondria, and even nuclei to flow from cell to cell.
Soredium
In lichens, a small cluster of fungal hyphae with embedded algae.
Yeasts
Single-celled fungus that reproduces asexually by binary fission or by the pinching of small buds off a parent cell. Some species exhibit cell fusion between different mating types.
Zoospores
Flagellated spore found in chytrid fungi and some protists.
Zygomycetes
Member of the fungal phylum Zygomycota, characterized by the formation of a sturdy structure called a zygosporangium during sexual reproduction.
zygosporangium
In zygomycete fungi, a sturdy multinucleate structure in which karyogamy and meiosis occur.