Sporocarp (fungi)
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The sporocarp (also known as fruiting body, fruit body or fruitbody) of
fungi 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 ...
is a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures, such as
basidia A basidium () is a microscopic sporangium (a spore-producing structure) found on the hymenophore of fruiting bodies of basidiomycete fungi which are also called tertiary mycelium, developed from secondary mycelium. Tertiary mycelium is highly-c ...
or asci, are borne. The fruitbody is part of the sexual phase of a fungal
life cycle Life cycle, life-cycle, or lifecycle may refer to: Science and academia *Biological life cycle, the sequence of life stages that an organism undergoes from birth to reproduction ending with the production of the offspring * Life-cycle hypothesis ...
, while the rest of the life cycle is characterized by vegetative
mycelial 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 ...
growth and asexual spore production. The sporocarp of a
basidiomycete Basidiomycota () is one of two large divisions that, together with the Ascomycota, constitute the subkingdom Dikarya (often referred to as the "higher fungi") within the kingdom Fungi. Members are known as basidiomycetes. More specifically, Ba ...
is known as a ''
basidiocarp In fungi, a basidiocarp, basidiome, or basidioma () is the sporocarp of a basidiomycete, the multicellular structure on which the spore-producing hymenium is borne. Basidiocarps are characteristic of the hymenomycetes; rusts and smuts do ...
'' or ''basidiome'', while the fruitbody of an ascomycete is known as an '' ascocarp''. Many shapes and morphologies are found in both basidiocarps and ascocarps; these features play an important role in the identification and
taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...
of fungi. Fruitbodies are termed ''epigeous'' if they grow on the ground, while those that grow underground are ''
hypogeous Hypogeal, hypogean, hypogeic and hypogeous (; ) are biological terms describing an organism's activity below the soil surface. In botany, a seed is described as showing hypogeal germination when the cotyledons of the germinating seed remain non ...
''. Epigeous sporocarps that are visible to the naked eye, especially fruitbodies of a more or less
agaric An agaric () is a type of fungus fruiting body characterized by the presence of a pileus (cap) that is clearly differentiated from the stipe (stalk), with lamellae (gills) on the underside of the pileus. In the UK, agarics are called "mushroom ...
oid morphology, are often called
mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is t ...
s. Epigeous sporocarps have
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 ...
that extend underground far beyond the mother sporocarp. There is a wider distribution of mycelia underground than sporocarps above ground. Hypogeous fungi are usually called
truffle A truffle is the fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus, predominantly one of the many species of the genus ''Tuber''. In addition to ''Tuber'', many other genera of fungi are classified as truffles including '' Geopora'', '' Pe ...
s or
false truffle A false truffle or a hymenogastrale is any species of fungus that has underground fruiting bodies that produce basidiocarps resembling the true truffles of genus ''Tuber Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutri ...
s. There is evidence that hypogeous fungi evolved from epigeous fungi. During their
evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
, truffles lost the ability to disperse their spores by air currents, and propagate instead by animal
consumption Consumption may refer to: *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically * Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curren ...
and subsequent defecation. In amateur
mushroom hunting Mushroom hunting, mushrooming, mushroom picking, mushroom foraging, and similar terms describe the activity of gathering mushrooms in the wild, typically for culinary use. This practice is popular throughout most of Europe, Australia, Japan ...
, and to a large degree in academic
mycology Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans, including as a source for tinder, traditional medicine, food, and entheogens, as ...
as well, identification of
higher fungi Dikarya is a subkingdom of Fungi that includes the divisions Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, both of which in general produce dikaryons, may be filamentous or unicellular, but are always without flagella. The Dikarya are most of the so-called "hi ...
is based on the features of the sporocarp. The largest known fruitbody is a specimen of ''
Phellinus ellipsoideus ''Phellinus ellipsoideus'' (formerly ''Fomitiporia ellipsoidea'') is a species of polypore fungus in the family Hymenochaetaceae, a specimen of which produced the largest fungal fruit body ever recorded. Found in China, the fruit bodies produc ...
'' (formerly ''Fomitiporia ellipsoidea'') found on
Hainan Island Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly ...
, part of
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. It measures up to in length and is estimated to weigh between .


Ecology

A wide variety of animals feed on epigeous and hypogeous fungi. The mammals that feed on fungi are as diverse as fungi themselves and are called mycophages. Squirrels and chipmunks eat the greatest variety of fungi, but there are many other mammals that also forage on fungi, such as
marsupial Marsupials are any members of the mammalian infraclass Marsupialia. All extant marsupials are endemic to Australasia, Wallacea and the Americas. A distinctive characteristic common to most of these species is that the young are carried in a po ...
s, mice, rates,
vole Voles are small rodents that are relatives of lemmings and hamsters, but with a stouter body; a longer, hairy tail; a slightly rounder head; smaller eyes and ears; and differently formed molars (high-crowned with angular cusps instead of lo ...
s,
lemming A lemming is a small rodent, usually found in or near the Arctic in tundra biomes. Lemmings form the subfamily Arvicolinae (also known as Microtinae) together with voles and muskrats, which form part of the superfamily Muroidea, which also includ ...
s, deer,
shrew Shrews (family Soricidae) are small mole-like mammals classified in the order Eulipotyphla. True shrews are not to be confused with treeshrews, otter shrews, elephant shrews, West Indies shrews, or marsupial shrews, which belong to differ ...
s, rabbits,
weasel Weasels are mammals of the genus ''Mustela'' of the family Mustelidae. The genus ''Mustela'' includes the least weasels, polecats, stoats, ferrets and European mink. Members of this genus are small, active predators, with long and slender bo ...
s, and more. Some animals feed on fungi opportunisticaly, while others rely on them as a primary source of food. Hypogeous sporocarps are a highly nutritious primary food source for some small mammals like the Tasmanian Bettong. Evidence of this is that the composition of fungi in the diet of Tasmanian Bettong was positively correlated with body condition and growth rates of pouch young. Ectomycorrhizal or hypogeous fungi form a symbiotic relationship with small
mycophagous Fungivory or mycophagy is the process of organisms consuming fungi. Many different organisms have been recorded to gain their energy from consuming fungi, including birds, mammals, insects, plants, amoebas, gastropods, nematodes, bacteria and othe ...
mammals. Hypogeous sporocarps depend on small fungivorous mammals to disperse their spores since they are underground and cannot utilize wind dispersal like epigeous sporocarps. Underground fungi also play a role is a three-way symbiotic relationship with small marsupials and Australian Eucalyptus forests. In Australian Eucalyptus forests, hypogeous sporocarp dispersal is positively affected by fires. After a fire, most if not all epigeous sporocarps are wiped out, leaving hypogeous sporocarps to be the primary source of fungi for small marsupials. The ability of hypogeous fungi to resist disasters, such as fire, could be due to their evolved ability to survive the digestive systems of animals in order to distribute. Sporocarps can also serve as a food source for other fungi. Sporocarps can be hosts to diverse communities of fungicolous fungi. Short-lived sporocarps that evolved little investment in defense mechanisms are more often victim to fungicolous fungi than long-lived sporocarps. Resupinate sporocarps, sporocarps that have a higher surface area to volume ratio, are hosts to a higher diversity of fungicolous fungi than pileate sporocarps.


See also

*
Lamella Lamella (plural lamellae) means a small plate or flake in Latin, and in English may refer to: Biology * Lamella (mycology), a papery rib beneath a mushroom cap * Lamella (botany) * Lamella (surface anatomy), a plate-like structure in an animal ...
– the gills *
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 ...
* Stipe – the stalk


References


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sporocarp (Fungi) Mycology Fungal morphology and anatomy