Types of mushroom reproduction
There are three types of fungal reproduction – vegetative, asexual and sexual. Often they replace each other in the process of growth and development of fungi.
Vegetative reproduction of fungi occurs by detaching parts of the mycelium, as well as budding, chlamydospores, arthrospores, and gems. Isolation of parts of the mycelium is the main method of vegetative propagation of fungi. Mycelium can form in any part of the old mycelium that contains a capable cell. Suitable for reproduction are also areas of non-cellular mycelium. This method of reproduction is used in the cultivation of domestic edible mushrooms.
Budding is a method of vegetative propagation of fungi. It is found in fungi with yeast-like thallus. During this process, the daughter cell separates from the mother cell with the help of a septum and then functions as a separate single-celled organism. It should be noted that the yeast cell is unable to bud indefinitely. The number of perfect divisions can be established by the chitinous rings, which are visible at the site of the kidney separation. Old yeast cells are larger than young ones, but their number is less.
Artrospores are special cells of vegetative propagation of fungi, their other name is oidia. They arise as a result of the division of hyphae, starting from the tips, into a large number of processes, they will later give life to a new mycelium. Oidia have a thin shell and a short lifespan. They can also be found in other mushroom species.
Gems are a subspecies of oidia, they are distinguished by a shell that is thicker and darker in color, and they also last longer. Gems are found in marsupials, as well as smuts and imperfections.
Chlamydospores are needed for vegetative propagation of fungi. They have dense dark-colored shells and are tolerant of harsh conditions. They arise through the compaction and separation of the contents of individual mycelium cells, which during this process are covered with a dense dark-colored shell. Chlamydospores separated from the cells of maternal hyphae can survive for a long time under any harsh conditions. When they begin to germinate, sporulation organs or mycelium appear in them. Chlamydospores occur in many basidiomycetes, deuteromycetes, and oomycetes.
Asexual reproduction occupies an important position in the distribution of fungi in nature and is one of the main features of these organisms. This type of reproduction occurs with the help of spores, which are formed without fertilization on special organs. These organs differ in shape and properties from the vegetative hyphae of the mycelium. With the endogenous method of spore formation, two types of spore-bearing organs are distinguished – namely, zoosporangia and sporangia. Conidia occur exogenously.
Fungal spores are the main structures involved in reproduction. The main function of spores is to create new individuals of a given species, as well as their resettlement in new places. They differ in origin, features and methods of settlement. They are often protected by a dense protective sheath of many layers or have no cell wall, they can be multicellular, transported by wind, rain, animals, or even move independently using flagella.
Zoospores are the asexual reproduction structures of fungi. They are bare sections of protoplasm that do not have a shell, they have one or more nuclei with one or more flagella. These flagella have an internal structure characteristic of the bulk of eukaryotes. They are needed for the settlement of fungi, contain an insignificant amount of nutrients and cannot remain viable for a long time. Occur endogenously in zoosporangia. Zoospores serve to reproduce lower fungi, which are mainly aquatic, but zoosporangia are also found in many terrestrial fungi that live on land plants.
A zoosporangium is a spore-bearing organ that produces motile, asexually reproducing spores that have flagella. These spores are called zoospores. As a rule, zoosporangia arise directly on vegetative hyphae, without specialized sporangiophores.
Sporangiospores (aplanospores) are structures of asexual reproduction of fungi. They are motionless, they have no organs of movement, there is a shell. They are needed for the settlement of fungi, contain an insignificant amount of nutrients and cannot remain viable for a long time. They arise endogenously within sporogenous organs (sporangia). Spores exit the sporangium through openings in the shell (pores) or when the integrity of the latter is violated. Endogenous sporulation occurs in more primitive fungi. Sporangiospores reproduce asexually in Zygomycetes.
Sporangium – this is the name of the spore-bearing organ, inside which motionless spores of asexual reproduction with a shell arise and grow. In most filamentous fungi, the sporangium is formed from a swelling of the hyphal apex after it is separated from the parent hypha by a septa. In the process of spore formation, the sporangium protoplast divides many times, forming many thousands of spores. In many fungal species, the sporangial-bearing hyphae are morphologically very different from the vegetative hyphae. In this case, they are called sporangiophores.
Sporangiophores are fruit-bearing hyphae that produce sporangia.
Conidia are spores of asexual reproduction that form pointwise on the surface of a spore-bearing organ called a conidiophore, representing specialized sections of the mycelium. Common conidia are found in marsupials, basidiomycetes, and anamorphic fungi. Imperfect fungi (deuteromycetes) can reproduce exclusively by conidia. The methods of formation of conidia, their features, associations and placements are very diverse. Conidia can be unicellular and multicellular, of various shapes. The degree of their coloring also varies – from transparent to golden, smoky, gray, olive, pinkish. The release of conidia usually occurs passively, but in some cases their active rejection is observed.