May 10th

May 10th
FUNGI (cont.)

So in our next lecture we learned about Biotrophs which can be either a mutual relationship or a parasitic one. Necrotrophs are aggressive parasites that eventually destroy their prey. We briefly talked about Lichens which are a type of fungus. They are a fusion of Green Algae and Cyano bacterium. We learned about HollyHock Rust and Powerdery Mildews as well which are both plant parasites.
In the UW greenhouse we saw a Dracula Orchid which had white flowers that have gill-like structures. A very interesting looking plant that is fertilized by tricking female fungus gnats into thinking that it is a fungus.
Outside we saw a Rust Hollyhock on one of the plants. The undersides of its big leafy extremities were absolutely covered in orange rust colored spots. These structures produced by the Hollyhock will produce many spores that will continue to attack the plant until it dies.
On the side of the greenhouse there were some young seedlings that we were able to pull out and inspect. We looked at a Birch seedling which had evolved to have a mutual relationship with acto microaizi / endo microaizi fungi. They were visible on the seedlings roots. They formed a thick fungal layer on the roots, which helped expand the roots reach. In return the tree would share its sugars and other nutrients with the fungus.

We also saw several species of Lichens. We were told that they are incredibly pollution sensitive, and because of this, many of the lichens we see on campus are weak, brittle shells of their healthy selves. The ones here are significantly stunted in their growth and in morphology because there is so much pollution from the city. Lichens are primary succession specialists. That means that they are the first organisms to successfully colonize a vacant area. They can colonize any kind of rock and even concrete.

Posted on June 5, 2012 06:55 AM by mhf5