The kingdom of mushrooms is amazingly diverse. Everyone knows its edible representatives - a real table decoration. Many people know about the existence of poisonous mushrooms, which are often so successfully masked that distinguishing them can be difficult. Finally, organisms that are simple in structure, such as mucor, that is, mold, are heard. But what are imperfect mushrooms, for which they got their unflattering name? Our article will help to understand the features of their structure, classification and significance.
Definition
In the kingdom of mushrooms, a special class of imperfect mushrooms stands out, called deuteromycetes, which include higher organisms. For them, only one type of reproduction is inherent - asexual sporulation. These include those organisms that do not have the ability to form a basidium or bag. The class is quite extensive, includes more than 25 thousand species. Moreover, some representatives even have sexual sporulation, but it does not play a special role in their development.
The importance of such organisms in wildlife is quite specific - they are the causative agents of various plant diseases.
Distinctive features
The group of imperfect mushrooms has a number of signs by which they can be distinguished from other representatives of the kingdom. Features are:
- Reproduction occurs by special spores - conidia, which are formed on areas of mycelium that are distinguished by isolation. These branches are called conidiophores.
- Reproduction can be like dissecting hyphae into individual cells.
- Sexual processes in such fungi, as a rule, are absent.
Studies of the department of imperfect mushrooms have proved that many representatives are one of the stages in the development of marsupials or basidiomycetes.
Most often lead a parasitic lifestyle, affecting plants, less often - animals. The variety of imperfect mushrooms, as well as the lack of material for research, led to confusion. So, in the science of the past, it was customary to attribute deuteromycetes to the department of the kingdom of the Mushroom, but now most scientists support the position that this is not a taxonomic group.
The specifics of the structure
Examples of imperfect mushrooms allow us to identify features inherent in the structure of the group:
- The body is composed of multicellular hyphae dissected. They can be colored or transparent.
- Spores for breeding - conidia - are located on conidiophores or pycnids.
- Mycelium is most often multi-core, with a large number of septa (septa).
- Conidia are distinguished by a wealth of forms: most often they are a ball or an ellipse, but they also occur in the form of a thread, spiral, even an asterisk. The color of such spores is light, sometimes brownish, dark.
- Exemption from conidia - the very process of getting into the air - is passive.
Conidiophores can be solitary (this is observed in organisms simple in structure), but most often they are grouped in bundles. Depending on their location, several types of conidial apparatus are distinguished (bed - an abundance of parallel processes not connected to each other, koremia - fused bundles of conidiophores).
The most difficult type of conidial sporulation is pycnidia, the conidia located in it are located in the mucus and can only come to the surface when swelling.
Manifold
Imperfect refers to a large number of mushrooms:
- Those inherent in conidial asexual sporulation.
- Propagating vegetatively, that is, not having sporulation (sterile mycelium).
- Yeast organisms for which reproduction is inherent by budding.
- Even those organisms that have the ability to reproduce perfectly, but rarely use it because of their low importance in the development process.
In nature, there are many examples of imperfect mushrooms. It can be parasites (most of them) or saprophytes, many individuals are causative agents of serious diseases of plant crops. Below will be presented their classification, a brief description and specific examples.
Classification
Imperfect mushrooms can be divided into three orders:
- Pycnidial (spherical).
- Hyphal (hyphomycetes).
- Melanconium.
Each order is characterized by certain structural features.
Pycnidial characteristic
These phytopathogenic fungi are very diverse and can cause plant damage such as:
- rot of vegetables, fruits, seeds;
- leaf spot;
- cancer of branches, trunks;
- necrosis.
You can find out about the presence of the pathogen by the appearance of a large number of pycnids - black dots and tubercles on parts of the plant. These imperfect mushrooms are dangerous for beets, cabbage, lemons, carrots, potatoes, pumpkins, corn, tomatoes. The causative agents of black apple cancer cause enormous harm.
Briefly about hyphomycetes
Among imperfect mushrooms, hyphal, which are very different in shape and structure, are most common. The mycelium of such organisms is well developed, usually has septa. It can be located on the substrate or on its surface. Conidia appear as a result of dissection of the mycelium, can also form on the conidiophores.
They can cause such crop diseases:
- decay;
- mold;
- withering;
- staining.
So, it is precisely such imperfect mushrooms that are the causative agents of the following diseases:
- Fusarium wilting of flax;
- dry rot of potatoes (tubers);
- pome fruit rot ;
- gray rot of individual vegetables, fruits and berries;
- green and blue mold of citrus fruits;
- oosporosis (scab of potatoes, rot of tomatoes).
Often, this particular group of organisms damages feed intended for long-term storage.
However, one should not assume that imperfect mushrooms bring only harm, among them there are several useful species. Their use is diverse:
- Production of antibiotics, organic acids.
- Use in the control of insect pests.
- Predatory fungi are used to destroy phytohelminths.
As you can see, this order and its representatives are able to bring humanity both good and harm. Among these organisms, many are saprophytes.
Melanconium Mushroom Information
A small number of imperfect mushrooms, similar to each other in terms of structural and developmental features, belong to the Melanconia order. A distinctive feature of the representatives - conidia are located in the pycnidia. In plants, such fungi cause diseases attributable to anthracnose - small size ulcers form on the fruits and seeds of crops, stems crack, stains appear on the leaves.
Here are some examples of dangerous diseases that damage human agricultural activities:
- pumpkin anthracnose;
- bean damage;
- flax;
- grapes;
- currants.
- brown spotting of strawberry leaves.
Some species have a very high harmfulness.
Value in nature
We examined what constitute imperfect mushrooms. And what is their role in nature? These living organisms help to destroy the remains of dead plants, that is, they carry out the functions of reducers.
However, the vast majority of such fungi are harmful: they not only parasitize on cultivated plants, but can also leave toxic substances in food products that become their living environment. A person using such a product can be poisoned.
So, imperfect mushrooms are a very conventional concept, because a huge number of species that differ in their asexual method of reproduction belong to them. The group includes a large number of representatives, some of which are parasites and causes enormous damage to agriculture, destroying grain, vegetables, fruit crops and livestock feed intended for storage. Man learned to use many of the mushrooms for the good, using them to produce enzymes, antibiotics and poisons to protect the crop from harmful insects.