''Phycomyces'' is a genus of

fungus A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from th ...

in the

Zygomycota Zygomycota, or zygote fungi, is a former division or phylum of the kingdom Fungi. The members are now part of two phyla: the Mucoromycota and Zoopagomycota. Approximately 1060 species are known. They are mostly terrestrial in habitat, living i ...

phylum. They are known for their strong

phototropism Phototropism is the growth of an organism in response to a light stimulus. Phototropism is most often observed in plants, but can also occur in other organisms such as fungi. The cells on the plant that are farthest from the light contain a hor ...

response and

helical growth Helical growth is when cells or organs expand, resulting in helical shaped cells or organs and typically including the breakage of symmetry. This is seen in fungi, algae, and other higher plant cells or organs. Helical growth can occur naturall ...

of the

sporangium A sporangium (; from Late Latin, ) is an enclosure in which spores are formed. It can be composed of a single cell or can be multicellular. Virtually all plants, fungi, and many other lineages form sporangia at some point in their life cy ...

. The best studied species is ''

Phycomyces blakesleeanus ''Phycomyces blakesleeanus'' is a filamentous fungus in the Order Mucorales of the phylum Zygomycota or subphylum Mucoromycotina. The spore-bearing sporangiophores of ''Phycomyces'' are very sensitive to different environmental signals including ...

''.

Asexual reproduction

''Phycomyces'' can reproduce via extension of

mycelia Mycelium (plural mycelia) is a root-like structure of a fungus consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. Fungal colonies composed of mycelium are found in and on soil and many other substrates. A typical single spore germinates in ...

, or by production of spores either asexually or sexually. The asexual cycle includes the formation of spore containing sporangia borne on the top of sporangiophores that may extend 10 to 15 cm above the surface of the fungal colony from which they emerged. The long filamentous sporangiophores respond to divergent environmental signals including light, gravity, wind, chemicals and adjacent objects. The sporangia contain vegetative spores with one to six haploid nuclei. These spores when dispersed can establish new colonies.

Sexual reproduction

''Phycomyces'' have two mating types that are indistinguishable morphologically. The sexual cycle is thought to occur by the following steps. Two hyphae of different mating type encounter each other, and their tips undergo a

septation In biology, a septum (Latin for ''something that encloses''; plural septa) is a wall, dividing a cavity or structure into smaller ones. A cavity or structure divided in this way may be referred to as septate. Examples Human anatomy * Interatri ...

event to produce

gametangia A gametangium (plural: gametangia) is an organ or cell in which gametes are produced that is found in many multicellular protists, algae, fungi, and the gametophytes of plants. In contrast to gametogenesis in animals, a gametangium is a haploid st ...

. Gametangia are haploid multinuclear cells equivalent to gametes. The two gametangia fuse to form an immature zygospore. Initially the developing zygospore contains thousands of nuclei contributed by the gametangia. During the course of zygospore maturation and dormancy, lasting several months, most nuclei are degraded. It is thought that ordinarily two surviving nuclei, one from each parent, fuse to form a diploid cell which then undergoes

meiosis Meiosis (; , since it is a reductional division) is a special type of cell division of germ cells in sexually-reproducing organisms that produces the gametes, such as sperm or egg cells. It involves two rounds of division that ultimately resu ...

to form haploid meiotic products. These then reproduce by mitotic divisions leading to the formation of a sporangium structure (germosporangium) that develops out from the zygospore. The germosporangium contains spores (germspores) that have one to six

haploid Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Sets of chromosomes refer to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, respectively ...

nuclei like those in the vegetative sporangium. Image:Phycomyces2.JPG, ''Phycomyces'' sporangium with fingers for size comparison. Image:Phycomyces3.JPG, ''Phycomyces'' exhibiting strong phototropism. Image:Phycomyces4.jpg, newly emerged ''Phycomyces'' from a fish food pellet in potting soil.

References

External links

Phycomyces web site
Zygomycota genera {{Zygomycota-stub