? Mucorales
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Fungi Division: Zygomycota Class: Zygomycetes Order: Mucorales
Families
Chaetocladiaceae Choanephoraceae Cunninghamellaceae Gilbertellaceae Mucoraceae Mycotyphaceae Phycomycetaceae Pilobolaceae Radiomycetaceae Saksenaeaceae Syncephalastraceae Thamnidiaceae

Mucorales are the largest and best studied order of Zygomycete fungi. This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms (as opposed to folk taxonomy). ... Divisions Chytridiomycota Zygomycota Ascomycota Basidiomycota The Fungi (singular: fungus) are a large group of organisms ranked as a kingdom within the Domain Eukaryota. ... Orders Mucorales Zoopagales Entomophthorales Endogonales Dimargaritales Kickxellales Microsporidia Harpellales Zygomycota, or zygote fungi, are a division of fungi. ... Zygomycota, or zygote fungi, are a division of fungi. ... Zygomycota, or zygote fungi, are a division of fungi. ... Divisions Chytridiomycota Zygomycota Ascomycota Basidiomycota The Fungi (singular: fungus) are a large group of organisms ranked as a kingdom within the Domain Eukaryota. ...

Systematics

The order contains 12-13 families (see the taxbox->), 56 genera and approximately 300 species. The traditional system has been built on studies of morphology, development and ecology. But now, as molecular data accumulate, the old system has proved to be quite artificial. For example, the Mucoraceae is believed to be polyphyletic, as well as Thamnidiaceae, Chaetocladiaceae and Radiomycetaceae. Even some of the genera, (such as Mucor, Absidia and Backusella) appear to be polyphyletic, with their species distributed among different clades. But as the new classification schemes are not complete yet, the traditional systematics is still largely in use. In biological classification, family (Latin: familia, plural familiae) is 1) a rank or 2) a taxon in that rank. ... See genus (mathematics) for the use of the term in mathematics. ... In biology, a species is a kind of organism. ... Molecular systematics is a product of the traditional field of systematics and the growing field of bioinformatics. ... In biology, a taxon is polyphyletic if it is descended from more than one root form (in Greek poly = many and phyletic = racial). ...

Characteristics

Mucorales have a fast-growing mycelium without septae in hyphae (multiperforate septa are present only where sporangiophores and gametangia grow). The hyphae grow mostly inside the substrate. Outside substrate grow the so called stolon hyphae, that attatch to substrate by means of rhizoids in places where sporangiophores grow (Rhizoid hyphae). Sporangiophores are upright (simple or ramified) hyphae that form sporangia at their tips. A septum, in general, is a wall separating two cavities or two spaces containing a less dense material. ... A hypha (plural hyphae) is a long, branching filament that, with other hyphae, forms the feeding thallus of a fungus called the mycelium. ... A gametangia is an organ or cell in which gametes are produced. ... The word substrate can mean the following: In biochemistry, a substrate is a molecule which is acted upon by an enzyme. ... Rhizoids, in fungi, are small branching hyphae that grow downwards from the stolons that anchor the fungus. ... A sporangium (pl. ...

Life-cycle

Asexual mitospores (spores formed by mitosis) form within the sporangia (thousands of spores) or sporangioles (single spore or a few). They are released when mature by the disintegration of sporangium wall. The sporangioles containing one spore can have their wall fused with spore wall. In that case, the whole sporangioles separate from the fungus, and are carried by wind like conidia. Light micrograph of a newt kidney cell in early anaphase of mitosis. ... A sporangium (pl. ... Conidia are asexual spores of fungus. ...

Germination of these spores forms the haploid hyphae of a new mycelium. Asexual reproduction occurs continuously. Sunflower seedlings, just three days after germination Germination is the process in botany where growth emerges from a resting stage. ... Haploid (meaning simple in Greek) cells have only one copy of each chromosome. ... Asexual reproduction in liverworts: a caducuous phylloid germinating Asexual reproduction (also known as agamogenesis) is a form of reproduction which does not involve meiosis, gamete formation, or fertilization. ...

Sexual reproduction occurs only when opposite mating types (designated + and -) come in contact. Then special cells become gametes that fuse forming a zygote. The zygote develops a resistant cell wall, forming a zygospore, the characteristic that gives its name to this group of fungi. Subsequently, the zygospore germinates and forms a sporangiophore whose sporangium produces both + and - haploid spores. Sexual reproduction is a type of reproduction that results in increasing genetic diversity of the offspring. ... Gametes (in Greek: γαμέτες) —also known as sex cells, germ cells, or spores—are the specialized cells that come together during fertilization (conception) in organisms that reproduce sexually. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A cell wall is a more or less solid layer surrounding a cell. ...

Ecology

Most Mucorales are saprophytes on organic substrates (such as fruit, soil, and dung), some species are also parasites of animals, plants and fungi. A saprophyte used to be defined as any organism which obtained its energy from decaying animal or vegetable matter. ... A parasite is an organism that lives in or on the living tissue of a host organism at the expense of it. ...

Mucorales include also a few species causing human disease zygomycosis, as well as allergic reactions. This article needs cleanup. ...

References

• Some general information[1]
• Voigt & Wöstemeyer, 2001[2]
• www.mycolog.com[3]