Zygomycota
Sign in to saveZygomycota, 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 in soil or on decaying plant or animal material. Some are parasites of plants, insects, and small animals, while others form symbiotic relationships with plants. Zygomycete hyphae may be coenocytic, forming septa only where gametes are formed or to wall off dead hyphae. Zygomycota is no longer recognised as it was not believed to be truly monophyletic.
AI overview
Zygomycota, formerly classified as a single fungal group but now split into two separate phyla (Mucoromycota and Zoopagomycota), are fungi primarily found in soil and decaying organic matter that play various ecological roles as parasites, decomposers, and plant partners. They matter because they're widespread organisms that influence nutrient cycling, plant health, and ecosystem functioning, though scientists reclassified them after discovering the original grouping didn't reflect their true evolutionary relationships.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Article
24 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Spores
- Mitospores
- Chlamydospores
- Zygophores
- Cell wall
- Trisporic acid
- History
- Functions of trisporic acid in Mucorales
- Parasexualism
- Phototropism
- Activation of beta-carotene biosynthesis by light
- Influence of light in sporulation and sexual development
- Gravitropism
- Protein crystals involved in graviperception
- Lipid droplets involved in graviperception
- Phylogeny
- Industrial uses
- Culture conditions
- Culture media
- Reproduction
- Evolution of conidia
- References
- External links
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 in soil or on decaying plant or animal material. Some are parasites of plants, insects, and small animals, while others form symbiotic relationships with plants. Zygomycete hyphae may be coenocytic, forming septa only where gametes are formed or to wall off dead hyphae. Zygomycota is no longer recognised as it was not believed to be truly monophyletic.
==Etymology== thumb|left|An immature zygosporangium of the Rhizopus fungus forming from two fused gametangia, showing a "yoke" shape. The name Zygomycota refers to the zygosporangia characteristically formed by the members of this clade, in which resistant spherical spores are formed during sexual reproduction. Zygos is Greek for "joining" or "a yoke", referring to the fusion of two hyphal strands which produces these spores, and -mycota is a suffix referring to a division of fungi.