How do Chytridiomycota get their food?

Chytridiomycota feed on both living and decaying organisms. They are heterotrophic. Asexually, Chytridiomycota reproduce through the use of zoospores. The zoospore attaches itself, feeds off its host; the cytoplasm grows, meiotic divisions occur, and a cell wall forms around the original zoospore.

How do chytrids eat?

Like all fungi, chytrids live in their food and have an absorptive mode of nutrition in which they secrete digestive enzymes and absorb the breakdown products.

What are zoosporic fungi?

Zoosporic true fungi (often called chytrids) include a very large and diverse group of microorganisms which have been commonly observed growing on many substrates in samples collected from both soil and freshwater habitats (Sparrow, 1960; Powell, 1993; Barr, 2001; Shearer et al., 2007).

Are chytrids considered ecologically important?

Chytrids are very important components of freshwater ecosystems, but the ecological significance of this group of fungi is not well understood. The biological factors include the role of chytrids as saprobes and parasites and methods of dispersal of propagules throughout the ecosystem.

What is the order of Chytridiomycota?

In this treatment there is a single class (Chytridiomycetes) and five orders (Chytridiales, Spizellomycetales, Blastocladiales, Monoblepharidales, and Neocallimastigales). Col- lectively, the Chytridiomycota are of ten referred to as chytrids.

Is Allomyces a chytrid?

Another chytrid species, Allomyces, is well characterized as an experimental organism. Its reproductive cycle includes both asexual and sexual phases.

Is not one of the components of the cell walls of Chytridiomycetes?

Members of the division Chytridiomycota have unicellular to mycelial thalli. Their cell wall composition is mostly chitin, and cellulose is not known to occur.

What are the characteristics of Glomeromycota?

Extant Glomeromycota are comprised of obligate symbionts that may form arbuscules in plant roots; they produce large (40–800 μm), multilayered spores which are attached to non-septate hyphae. More than 90% of extant land plants have a symbiotic (mutualistic) relationship with mycorrhizal fungi in their roots.

What is unique about the Chytridiomycota?

The Chytridiomycota, often called chytrids, are unique among all fungi in having motile stages in their life cycles; no other fungi have this trait. These threads, called rhizoids, not only anchor the fungus to the pollen but also serve in nutrient absorption.

What are the characteristics of chytrids?

Chytrids are fungi in the phylum Chytridiomycota. They have motile spores and are primarily aquatic organisms. Like all fungi, chytrids live in their food and have an absorptive mode of nutrition in which they secrete digestive enzymes and absorb the breakdown products.

What is the phylum of chytrids?

Chytrids are zoosporic fungi classified in the phylum Chytridiomycota, which currently includes two classes, Chytridiomycetes and Monoblepharidomycetes.

What are the monophyletic groups of chytrids?

Another monophyletic group includes the “core chytrid orders” of the Chytridiales, Monoblepharidales, Spizellomycetales, and Neocallimastigales. We are in an exciting period where the classification of chytrids will be totally revised, supplementing a solely morphological-based system (Sparrow 1960) with phylogenetic-based taxa.

What is the habitat of Chytridiales?

The Chytridiales, Monoblepharidales, and Blastocladiales are found in water and in soils. The Spizellomycetales primarily inhabit soils but may be found at the margins of lentic and lotic aquatic habitats.