The kingdom of mushrooms includes many species. Lower fungi belong to microorganisms. A person can only see them through a microscope or spoiled food. Higher mushrooms have a complex structure and large sizes. They can grow on the ground and on tree trunks, find them where there is access to organic matter. The bodies of the mushrooms are formed by thin, closely adjacent hyphae. These are exactly the species that we used to collect in baskets while walking through the forest.
Higher mushrooms - agaric
Perhaps everyone has an accurate idea of what an ordinary mushroom looks like. Everyone knows where they can grow and when they can be found. But in reality, representatives of the kingdom of mushrooms are not so simple. They differ from each other in shape and structure. The bodies of the fungi are formed by the plexus of hyphae. Most of the species known to us have a leg and a hat, which can be painted in different colors. Almost all the mushrooms that a person eats are classified as agaric. This group includes species such as champignons, valui, saffron mushrooms, chanterelles, honey agarics, white, seaworms, etc. So it is worthwhile to study the structure of these mushrooms in more detail.
The general structure of higher fungi
The bodies of the fungi are formed by intertwined giant multinucleated cells - hyphae that make up the plectenchyme. In most cap representatives of the agaric order, it is clearly divided into a round hat and a leg. Such an external structure also has some species related to aphyllophore and morels. However, even among agaric there are exceptions. In some species, the leg may be lateral or completely absent. And in Gasteromycetes, the bodies of the mushrooms are formed in such a way that no such unit is detected, and they have no hats. They have a tuberoid, club-shaped, spherical shape or star shape.
The cap is protected by the skin under which there is a layer of pulp. It may have a bright color and smell. The foot or stump is attached to the substrate. It can be soil, a living tree, or the corpse of an animal. The stump is usually dense, its surface varies depending on the species. It can be smooth, scaly, velvety.
Higher mushrooms reproduce sexually and asexually. The vast majority forms spores. The vegetative body of the fungus is called mycelium. It consists of thin branching hyphae. Gifa is an elongated thread that has vertex growth. They may not have partitions, in which case the mycelium consists of one giant multinucleated, highly branched cell. The vegetative body of fungi can develop not only in soil rich in organic matter, but also in the wood of living and dead trunks, on stumps, roots and much less often on shrubs.
The structure of the fruit body of the cap mushroom
The fruiting bodies of most agaric are soft-fleshy and juicy. When dying, as a rule, they rot. The period of their life is very small. In some mushrooms, only a few hours can pass from the moment it appears above the ground to the final stage of development, less often it lasts a couple of days.
The fruit body of the mushroom consists of a hat and a centrally located leg. Sometimes, as mentioned above, the leg may be absent. Hats come in various sizes, from a few millimeters to tens of centimeters. Walking through the forest, you can see how small mushrooms with a hat the size of a little pillow of a little finger grew from the ground on thin delicate legs. And next to them can be a heavy giant mushroom. His hat grows to 30 cm, and the leg is heavy and thick. Porcini mushrooms and mushrooms can boast of such an impressive size.
The shape of the hat is also different. There are cushion-shaped, hemispherical, flattened, bell-shaped, funnel-shaped, with the edge bent down or up. Often, during the short life of the mushroom, the shape of the cap changes several times.
The structure of agaric mushroom caps
Hats, like the bodies of mushrooms, are formed by hyphae. On top of them is a dense skin. It also consists of covering GIFs. Their function is to protect internal tissues from the loss of vital moisture. Thus, the skin prevents drying. It can be painted in different colors depending on the type of fungus and its age. Some peels are white, while others are bright: orange, red or brown. It can be dry or, on the contrary, covered with thick mucus. Its surface is smooth and scaly, velvety or warty. In some species, for example, oil, the skin is easily removed completely. But among russula and thistles, it lags only along the very edge. In many species, it is not removed at all and is firmly connected to the pulp that is under it.
Under the skin, therefore, the fruit body of the fungus is formed by pulp - a sterile tissue built from the plexus of hyphae. It is different in density. The flesh in some species is loose, in others it is elastic. She can be brittle. This part of the fungus has a specific species odor. It can be sweet or nutty. The aroma of the pulp of some species is pungent or peppery bitter; it happens with a rare and even garlic hue.
As a rule, in most species, the flesh under the skin on a hat of a light color: white, milky, brownish or greenish. What are the structural features of the fungus body in this part? In some species, the color at the fracture site remains the same over time, while in others the color changes dramatically. Such changes are explained by oxidative processes of coloring substances. A striking example of this phenomenon is the boletus. If you make a cut on his fruiting body, then this place will quickly darken. The same processes are observed in the moss fly and bruise.
In the flesh of species such as trefoil, breast and saffron milk cap, there are special hyphae. Their walls are thickened. They are called the milky passages and are filled with a colorless or colored liquid - juice.
Hymenium - a fruitful layer
The fruit body of the fungus is formed by pulp, under which directly under the hat is the fruitful layer - hymenia. This is a series of microscopic spore-bearing cells - basidia. The vast majority of agaric hymenias is located openly on the hymenophore. These are special protrusions located on the underside of the cap.
The hymenophore in various species of higher fungi has a different structure. For example, in chanterelles, it is presented in the form of thick branched folds that descend to their leg. But for blackberries, the hymenophore is in the form of brittle spines that can be easily separated. In tubular mushrooms , tubules form, and in lamellar, respectively, plates. The hymenophore can be free (if it does not reach the leg) or adherent (if it is tightly fused with it). Hymenium is necessary for reproduction. From the spores spreading around, a new vegetative body of the fungus is formed.
Mushroom spores
The structure of the fruit body of the cap mushroom is not complicated. Its spores develop on fruitful cells. In all agaric mushrooms, they are unicellular. As in any eukaryotic cell, the spore distinguishes between the membrane, cytoplasm, nucleus, and other cellular organelles. Also, a large number of inclusions are found in them. The size of the spores is from 10 to 25 microns. Therefore, they can only be examined under a microscope at good magnification. In shape they are round, oval, spindle-shaped, grain-shaped and even star-shaped. Their shell also varies depending on the species. In some spores, it is smooth, in others it is prickly, bristly or warty.
When released into the environment, spores often resemble powder. But the cells themselves are both colorless and stained. Often among the fungi there are spores yellow, brown, pink, red-brown, olive, purple, orange and even black. Mycologists pay great attention to the color and size of spores. These signs are persistent, and it is they who often help in determining the types of mushrooms.
Fruit body structure: mushroom leg
The appearance of the fruit body of the fungus is familiar to almost everyone. The leg, like the hat, is formed from hypha threads tightly intertwined. But these giant cells are distinguished by the fact that their membrane is thickened and has good strength. The leg is necessary for the fungus to support. She lifts it above the substrate. The hyphae in the leg are connected in bundles that are adjacent to each other in parallel and go from the bottom up. So they receive water and mineral compounds from the mycelium to the hat. The legs are distinguished in two types: solid (hyphae are pressed close to each other) and hollow (when a cavity is visible between the hyphae - lactic). But in nature, there are intermediate types. Such legs have a bruise and chestnut. In these species, the outer part is dense. And in the middle of the leg is filled with spongy pulp.
Everyone who has an idea of what the appearance of the fruit body of the fungus is, knows that the legs differ not only in structure. They have a different shape and thickness. For example, in russula and butter, the leg is smooth and cylindrical. But among the well-known boletus and cap boletus, it evenly expands to its base. There is also a reverse-claviform form of hemp. It is very common among agaric mushrooms. Such a leg has a noticeable expansion at the base, which sometimes turns into bulbous bloating. This form of hemp is most often detected in large species of mushrooms. It is characteristic of fly agarics, cobwebs, umbrellas. Mushrooms, in which the mycelium develops on wood, often have a leg narrowed to the base. It can be elongated and pass into a rhizomorph, stretching under the roots of a tree or stump.
So, what does the agaric mushroom body consist of? This is the leg that lifts it above the substrate, and the hat, in the lower part of which spores develop. Some species of mushrooms, such as fly agaric, after the formation of the ground part for some time covered with a whitish shell. It is called the "general blanket." As the fruit body of the fungus grows, its pieces remain on the round hat, and on the base of the hemp, a sack-like formation is noticeably a Volvo. In some mushrooms, it is free, while in others it is grown and looks like a thickening or ridges. Also, the remnants of the “common bedspread” are the bands on the leg of the mushroom. They are noticeable in many species, especially at an early stage of development. As a rule, in young mushrooms, the belts cover the emerging hymenophore.
Differences in the structure of hat mushrooms
The body parts of the fungus differ in different species. The fruiting bodies of some are not similar to the structure described above. Among agaric mushrooms, there are exceptions. And these species are not few. But the lines and morels only outwardly resemble agaric mushrooms. Their fruiting bodies also have a clear division into a hat and a leg. The hat is fleshy and hollow. Its shape is most often conical. The surface is not smooth, but rather ridge. The lines of the hat are irregularly shaped. It is covered with easily palpable sinuous folds. Unlike agaric mushrooms, in morels, the spore-bearing layer is located on the surface of the cap. It is represented by "bags" or asks. These are containers in which spores are formed and accumulate. The presence of such a part of the fungus body as asuka is common to all marsupials. The leg of morels and pods is hollow, its surface is smooth and even, at the base there is a noticeable tuberoid thickening.
Representatives of a different order - aphyllophore mushrooms, also have cap-shaped fruit bodies with a pronounced stalk. This group includes chanterelles and blackberries. Their hat is rubbery or slightly woody. A vivid example of this is the fungus mushrooms, which are also included in this order. As a rule, aphyllophore mushrooms do not rot, as happens in agaric mushrooms with their fleshy body. When dying, they dry out.
Also slightly different in structure from most cap species, mushrooms are of the order of hornet. Their fruiting body is club-shaped or coral-shaped. It is completely covered with hymen. An important feature of this order is the absence of a hymenophore.
The structure of the Gasteromycetes is also unusual. In this group, the body of the fungus is often called a tuber. In species included in this order, the form can be very diverse: spherical, star-shaped, egg-shaped, pear-shaped and nest-shaped. Their size is rather big. Some mushrooms of this order reach a diameter of 30 cm. The most striking example of Gasteromycetes is the giant raincoat.
Vegetative body of the fungus
The vegetative body of mushrooms is called their mycelium (or mycelium), which is located in the ground or, for example, in wood. It consists of very thin filaments - hyphae, the thickness of which varies from 1.5 to 10 mm. Hyphae are highly branched. The mycelium develops both in the substrate and on its surface. The length of the mycelium in such a nutrient soil, such as forest litter, can reach 30 km per 1 gram.
So, the vegetative body of mushrooms consists of long hyphae. They grow only at the top, that is, apically. The structure of the mycelium is very interesting. Mycelium in most species is non-cellular. It is devoid of intercellular septa and is one giant cell. It has not one, but a large number of cores. But the mycelium can also be cellular. In this case, under the microscope, the partitions separating one cell from another are clearly visible.
The development of the vegetative body of the fungus
So, the vegetative body of the fungus is called mycelium. Once in a moist substrate rich in organic matter, spores of cap mushrooms sprout. It is from them that the long threads of the mycelium develop. They grow slowly. Only after accumulating a sufficient amount of nutritious organic and mineral substances does the mycelium form fruit bodies on the surface, which we call mushrooms. Their very beginnings appear in the first month of summer. But they finally develop only with the onset of favorable weather conditions. As a rule, there are many mushrooms in the last month of summer and in the autumn period when rains come.
Nutrition of hat species is completely unlike the processes occurring in algae or green plants. They cannot synthesize the organic substances they need. There is no chlorophyll in their cells. They need ready-made nutrients. Since the vegetative body of the fungus is represented by hyphae, it is they that contribute to the absorption of water from the substrate with mineral compounds dissolved in it. Therefore, cap mushrooms prefer humus-rich forest soils. Less commonly, they grow in meadows and steppes. Mushrooms take most of the organic substances they need from the roots of trees. Therefore, most often they grow in the immediate vicinity of them.
For example, all lovers of quiet hunting know that ceps can always be found near birches, oaks and firs. But tasty saffron milk need to be found in pine forests. Brown boletus grows in birch groves, and aspen mushrooms grow in aspen. This is easily explained by the fact that mushrooms establish a close relationship with trees. As a rule, it is useful for both types. When a densely branched mycelium braids the roots of a plant, it tries to penetrate into them. But this does not harm the tree at all. The thing is that, located inside the cells, the mycelium sucks water from the soil and, of course, the mineral compounds dissolved in it. At the same time, they also enter the root cells, which means they also serve as nutrition for the tree. Thus, an overgrown mycelium performs the function of root hairs. This is especially useful for old roots. After all, they already have no hairs. How is such a symbiosis useful for mushrooms? They get useful organic compounds from the plant that they need for nutrition. Only if there are enough of them, on the surface of the substrate do fruit bodies of the cap mushrooms develop.