Edible mushrooms: Classification, categories, features

MUSHROOMS (Mycetalia, Mycota, Fungi), one of the kingdoms of eukaryotic organisms. In the organic system the world of G. is considered as an independent kingdom from the beginning. 1970s; Previously they were classified as members of the plant kingdom. G. are fast-growing non-photosynthetic organisms that require ready-made dissolved organic matter for their development. substances (osmotrophic heterotrophs). In terms of structure, the nature of metabolism, and the method of nutrition, G. occupy an intermediate position between animals and plants and have separate. traits of both. G. lacks photosynthesis, their ability to decompose ready-made organic matter. substances, the presence of supporting polyaminosaccharide (chitin) in the cell walls of most G., the formation of glycogen, urea and a number of other compounds in them during the metabolic process bring them closer to animals, and reproduction by spores, mainly. constant immobility of the body, an abundance of secondary metabolic products - with plants. At the same time, in terms of the composition of sterols and the characteristics of the synthesis of the amino acid lysine, they differ significantly from plants. It is assumed that G. became independent. a branch of the living world even before the division of organisms into animals and plants. The time of divergence (divergence) of animals, plants, and civilizations from their common ancestors is determined to be 1.1 billion years ago. Hypothetically, G. originate from colorless flagellated organisms that lived in the primordial ocean.

The kingdom of G. includes 4 divisions: ascomycetes, basidiomycetes, zygomycetes, and chytridiomycetes. Sometimes the kingdom of G. includes lichens, which represent the cohabitation of G. and algae or cyanobacteria. Described approx. 100 (according to other sources, 150–250) thousand species of G., the overwhelming majority of which are microorganisms that belong to micromycetes; the rest (about 12 thousand species) are macromycetes. Perhaps the total number of G. species can reach 1–1.5 million (about 800 G. species are discovered annually, mostly microscopic). G. are distributed almost everywhere. The science of gland is mycology. There are also mushroom-like organisms, or pseudofungi, usually called G., but which are not included in the kingdom of G. [for example: potato G., or late blight infestans; pathogens of downy mildew of grapes (mildew), saprolegnia G., parasitic on fish]. They contain cellulose in their cell wall, not chitin, and store plants. the carbohydrate is laminarin, and the pathways for lysine synthesis are similar to those in plants. They are similar to real G. in the structure of the vegetative body (mycelium) and reproduction by spores, which can be considered as convergent as a result of parallel evolution with real G. In the system of living organisms, pseudofungi are placed in the same group with brown, diatoms, golden and yellow-green algae on the basis of similarity their ultrastructural and biochemical. signs. Pseudofungi include 2 divisions: oomycetes and hyphochytridiomycetes (Hyphochytridiomycota), which, together with a few. microscopic aquatic G. with poorly developed mycelium are parasites of algae and small aquatic invertebrates. At the same time, the similarity of structure and feeding methods make it possible to consider pseudofungi together with real mushrooms.

The structure and reproduction of mushrooms

Scheme of the structure of the fruiting body of a cap mushroom.

The vegetative body of most G. is mycelium, or mycelium; is a system of branching tubes, or hyphae (several micrometers in diameter), with apical growth and lateral branching. Mycelium preem. cellular, or septate, divided by partitions into sections. cells containing one or more. cores. A number of G. (for example, zygomycetes) are characterized by noncellular mycelium, represented by one giant multinucleate cell. At microscopic parasitic G., living inside the cells of plants or animals, as well as yeast, have a unicellular vegetative body. The mycelium is parasitic. G. permeates the substrate - the soil, grows. residues, wood or tissues of host plants, absorbing nutrition from it. substances over the entire surface. They often use special suckers for this purpose - haustoria. During the fusion and interweaving of hyphae, mycelial films are formed (in tinder fungi), mycelial strands and cord-like formations are rhizomorphs (in the house mushroom and honey agaric), dense dark-colored structures are sclerotia, which serve to withstand unfavorable conditions. The part of the mycelium located on the surface of the substrate is the surface, or aerial, mycelium, on which reproductive organs are usually formed, for example. fruiting bodies of cap mushrooms, consisting of tightly intertwined hyphae (it is the fruiting bodies that are called mushrooms in everyday life).

In G. there are three types of reproduction: vegetative, asexual and sexual. In many species they successively replace each other in the development cycle. Vegetative propagation is usually carried out by fragments of mycelium, asexual propagation is carried out with the help of a variety of specialized plants. cells or multicellular formations called anamorphs (for example, in penicillium). Reproduction by spores formed asexually contributes to the spread and preservation of germs. The sporulation structures formed on the mycelium are distinguished by a richness of forms and determine the diversity of types of germs. Sexual reproduction, the associated processes of changing nuclear phases, and the structure of the genital organs vary significantly in different groups of germs. and often form the basis of their taxonomy. In G., three types of sexual process are known: gametogamy, gametangiogamy and somatogamy. Gametogamy is the fusion of motile gametes formed in gametangia (chytridiomycetes, hyphochytridiomycetes). Its variety is oogamy, in which large immobile eggs formed in special cells. oogonia, fertilized by small motile spermatozoa developing in antheridia (some chytridiomycetes); in a number of G. (oomycetes), sperm are not formed, and the egg is fertilized by the contents of the antheridium, which is not differentiated into sperm. During gametangiogamy, the fusion of two multinucleate specializations occurs. structures whose contents are not differentiated into gametes (zygomycetes, ascomycetes). Somatogamy consists of the fusion of ordinary vegetative mycelial cells (basidiomycetes). Spores formed as a result of the sexual process are genetically heterogeneous and are often located on the surface or inside the fruiting bodies. Such spores and the structures that carry them are called theliomorphs. Some G. have lost the sexual process in the process of evolution. They are characterized only by vegetative or, more often, asexual reproduction; they constitute a group of imperfect, or anamorphic (mitotic), G. (for example, Aspergillus, Boveria). As compensation for the lost sexual process, these G., as well as some other groups of G., have a parasexual process. It occurs in heterokaryotic. mycelium, in which genetically heterogeneous nuclei are present in a common cytoplasm; haploid nuclei can fuse to form diploid ones, some of which are heterozygous (i.e., arise from genetically different nuclei). In such a nucleus, the union of chromosomes and the exchange of genetics is possible. material using crossing over. Sometimes after this, haploid nuclei reappear, genetically different from the original ones.

Unicellular and multicellular

Quite often, on stale vegetables and fruits, as well as other food products, you can see white mold, which has a “fluffy” structure. These are mushrooms from the genus Mukorov. They appear on animal and plant tissues. In appearance they resemble a carpet. Gradually the body darkens to a gray or bluish color.

Mukor has a fairly simple structure . His body consists of a cellular structure. A distinctive feature is that they are single-celled. Only the appearance of a multicellular organism is created.

A valuable medicinal product called Ramitsin is made from this mushroom. It is also used in the production of cheeses as a yeast starter.

There are approximately 32,000 species of multicellular organisms. They can be both parasites and symbionts. For humans, the most attractive category is the cap type, since its representatives can be consumed as food.

Ecological-trophic groups of fungi

All G. are either parasites that feed organically. substances of plants and animals, or saprotrophs living off dead organic matter. material. Depending on the location of the feeding substrate, several are isolated. ecological-trophic groups G. The most numerous of them are soil G. They grow in huge quantities in the soil. Saprotrophic micromycetes (Aspergillus, Mucoraceae, Penicillium, etc.) live in the remains, and they grow in the soil. fall - macromycetes (umbrella mushrooms, puffballs, champignons and others, so-called litter and humus mushrooms, saprotrophs). These fungi destroy dead plants and decompose humus into simpler components that are accessible to living plants. To the specialist The group of soil G. includes coprotroph G. (for example, dung beetles), living on soils rich in humus (usually in places where animal droppings accumulate). A special group among soil bacteria is formed by mycorrhizal bacteria, or symbiotrophs, which participate in the formation of mycorrhiza. Their mycelium entwines the roots of plants and spreads widely in the root zone. Herbaceous plants form mycorrhiza with the mycelium of micromycetes (mainly from the zygomycetes department), and most tree species - with the mycelium of macromycetes (mainly cap mushrooms from the basidiomycetes department). Black French forms mycorrhiza with oak and beech. truffle from the ascomycetes department. This symbiosis is mutually beneficial: G. is provided by mineral plants. salts, soluble organic. substances (mainly nitrogenous), receiving in return the carbohydrate nutrition they need.

Dept. The group consists of wood-destroying G., or xylotrophs, living both on living trees and shrubs and on dead wood. These include many. micromycetes, as well as macromycetes with large fruiting bodies and perennial mycelium in wood. The most famous xylotroph parasites are root sponge, autumn honey fungus; xylotrophs-saprotrophs - true, bordered (with perennial fruiting bodies), birch, scaly and sulfur-yellow polypores (with annual fruiting bodies).

Many G., mainly micromycetes (smut fungi, true and false powdery mildew fungi, rust fungi, and many others) are parasites that settle on the green parts of plants.

Small groups of entomopathogenic G., parasitizing insects (for example, representatives of the genus Boveria), keratinophilic G. (dermatophytes), growing on the protein of animal tissues - keratin, and mycophilic G., living on the mycelium and fruiting bodies of cap mushrooms and tinder fungi, play quite an important role in natural ecosystems. Predatory G. live in the soil and feed on soil nematode worms and amoebas, which they catch with the help of sticky trapping rings formed on the mycelium. Aquatic plants live in fresh and salt water bodies, decomposing the plants that fall there. remains or parasitizing on aquatic plants and invertebrates.

The role of mushrooms in nature and in human life

Possessing a diverse set of enzymes, bacteria, together with heterotrophic bacteria, play the role of decomposers in nature—organisms capable of decomposing organic matter. substances to simple inorganic. compounds, which are then absorbed by producers - autotrophic organisms that create organic. substances. Soil hydrocarbons and forest floor hydrocarbons participate in soil formation and increase soil fertility. Mycorrhizal G. convert organic. substances into compounds suitable for nutrition of higher plants. G., living on trees, are able to destroy such difficult-to-decompose substances as lignin and cellulose (fiber), freeing the soil surface from stumps, dead wood, and logging residues, preparing it for forest regeneration. G. serve as food and shelter for a variety of insects, terrestrial mollusks (for example, slugs) and other small animals. Squirrels, deer, and many others feed on them. other animals.

Microscopic G. are causative agents of diseases in plants, humans, and animals, causing allergies. reactions; they cause damage to agricultural products. products and food products during storage (moulds). G., parasitic on plants, can affect all their organs, reducing the intensity of photosynthesis and retarding development. Rot of trunks and roots, often caused by G., leads to drying out and death of trees and shrubs and contributes to windbreaks and windfalls. According to some data, fungal diseases account for 97% of all plant diseases. They parasitize animals and humans approx. 1000 species of G.; the diseases caused by them are called mycoses. G. damage various. materials and products, works of art (paintings, sculptures, books, etc.).

In biotechnology, antibiotics, enzymes, and organic compounds are obtained with the help of g. (chiefly microscopic samples). acids, growth substances, steroids, alcohol, food products (cheeses, etc.), yeast, protein biomass, etc. Entomopathogenic and mycophilic G. are used in biological sciences. methods of controlling pests and agricultural diseases. plants.

Many G. are edible, which means. part of the diet. Poisonous gases that accidentally get into food can cause severe poisoning, often fatal. Some G. contain hallucinogenic substances. Rare and endangered species of G. are protected (for example, the ram mushroom, coral hedgehog).

Table “Comparative characteristics of living organisms”

Edible mushrooms

Edible mushrooms

Conditionally edible mushrooms

Some protected species of mushrooms

Edible mushrooms have high nutritional and taste qualities. They contain quite a lot of protein (most of all in fresh truffles - up to 9% by weight and white truffles - up to 5.5%), carotene (provitamin A), B vitamins, relatively little fat, carbohydrates, vitamin C. amount of minerals elements (potassium, sodium, etc.) G. are close to fruits. However, due to the presence of chitin in their cell membrane, they are poorly absorbed in the intestines (proteins, for example, are only 50%). In this regard, G. are quite “heavy” food, especially for people with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.

In the forests of Russia it grows approx. 300 species of edible G., of which only approx. 60. Edible mushrooms that do not require special treatment before cooking include most tubular mushrooms (white, boletus, aspen, boletus, butterfly, etc.), many lamellar mushrooms - umbrella mushrooms, row mushrooms, honey mushrooms (summer, winter, autumn ), oyster mushrooms, most russula, saffron milk caps, milk mushrooms and many others. A number of G. are included in the group of so-called. conditionally edible. Thus, morels and strings must be rinsed with water for a long time before use and must be boiled. Some types of milkweed and russula, volushka, bitter, violin, milk mushrooms (black and pepper) are soaked and boiled for a long time before salting. Conditionally edible can be considered the white dung beetle, which is edible only at a young age (while the cap is pure white), and the common mushroom in the “egg” stage, until the shell covering the entire mushroom has opened.

Every year in the forests of Russia approx. 5 million tons of edible G., the harvest is approx. 1 million tons. The largest number of G. species are found in mixed forests. G.'s productivity is directly dependent on weather conditions, especially humidity and temperature. In dry summers, the best areas for the growth of hemp are the edges of swamps, places moistened by springs, and shady sowing areas. slopes, forests with dense trees. In damp summers, good mushroom spots can be found in forests with sparse stands. As a rule, there is more G. in mature forests than in small forests. For forests cf. strip of Russia, the largest number of species of G. occurs in August. From the end of July and throughout August, layers (massive growth) of boletus, boletus, boletus, saffron milk cap, chanterelle, and russula are periodically replaced. This row ends with autumn honey mushrooms. Damage and destruction of the mycelium lead to a decrease in the yield of the mycelium, and sometimes to their complete disappearance.

The need for year-round obtaining of food led to the emergence of the so-called. mushroom industry, especially developed in Western countries. Europe (France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Hungary) and Southeast. Asia (Japan, China, South Korea). For industrial products are selected mainly. wood-destroying plants that produce large and tasty fruiting bodies (common and Florida oyster mushrooms, summer and winter honey mushrooms, ringweed, Judas's ear and shii-take, or Japanese mushroom, and some others). They are grown in special indoors and outdoors. Summer honey fungus and oyster mushrooms can be grown in the forest on stumps and dead wood. In Russia, only bisporus champignon and oyster mushroom are currently cultivated.

Edibility table

As you know, not all mushrooms can be eaten without harm to health, despite all their nutritional value. This is due to the fact that representatives of the kingdom contain substances that are toxic to the human body.

However, in some fruiting bodies the concentration of toxins is minimal, which makes them safe and edible for humans. It is based on the amount of toxic substances in the fruiting body that mushrooms were divided into 3 groups:

Knowing what type a particular representative belongs to will help you avoid poisoning, which often leads to fatal consequences.

Poisonous mushrooms

Poisonous mushrooms

The poisonous properties of G. have been known since time immemorial. Sometimes they were used for criminal purposes, including in the struggle for power. It is believed that G. were poisoned by Rome. imp. Claudius, Pope Clement VII, French. King Charles VI. Counts approx. 20–25 species of poisonous Grebe. The most common causes of deaths from Grebe poisoning are pale grebe, stinking fly agaric (white toadstool) and spring fly agaric. Some types of fiberweeds, orange-red cobwebs, and some types of umbrellas (including reddish-brown or fawn) are also deadly poisonous. Poisonous G. also include whitish and waxy talkers, yellow-skinned and variegated champignons, tiger and white rowers, false honey mushrooms and false chanterelles, and satanic G. The toxicity of G. is determined by the presence of toxins in them, which are not neutralized by enzymes of the gastrointestinal tract and are not are destroyed during heat treatment. The toxins of the toadstool (phalloidin) and the stinking fly agaric are especially dangerous. It must be taken into account that all G. are capable of accumulating toxic compounds (including salts of heavy metals) in their cells in industrial areas. emissions, railway and highways, as well as radioactive substances in areas of accidents at nuclear power plants. In this regard, it is impossible to collect G. in such environmentally unfavorable areas. The issue of toxicity of pigs remains controversial. Some researchers associate their poisoning with the accumulation of heavy metal salts, others with the accumulation in the human blood of antibodies to a special antigen contained in the fruiting bodies of pigs. Eating the latter is not recommended.

Poisonous G., as well as G., not collected by the population in certain regions according to tradition, are often called toadstools. For example, in the Moscow region, toadstools include yellow and lilac milk mushrooms and spurge. Such tasty mushrooms as row mushrooms, especially those colored in lilac and violet tones, as well as horn mushrooms (mushroom noodles) are practically not used for food. Mn. edible little-known G. are undeservedly called toadstools because of their unsightly appearance and similarity to fly agarics (for example, blue-green stropharia, gray and yellow floats) or because of their small size (for example, pink lacquer, oak garlic). Sometimes the term “toadstools” is associated with “filthy” habitats (dung heaps, organic waste dumps). This applies in particular to dung beetles and champignons. It must also be remembered that in nature the plural. Edible G. there are poisonous look-alike species (outwardly similar to edible ones). For example, the pale toadstool is similar to a field champignon (with a ring on the stem), the green russula is similar to a greenfinch (the color of the cap and whitish plates). White G. has two poisonous counterparts (bilious and satanic G.). Gall G. differs from white in the pink color of the tubular layer, the flesh turning pink at the fracture, the black-brown mesh pattern on the stalk and the bitter taste. It grows in spruce and pine forests. Satanic G. is characterized by a reddish color of the tubular layer, blue flesh at the fracture, and a red mesh pattern of the leg. It is found in the south of Europe. parts of Russia. The stinking fly agaric is similar to many. champignons, thanks to a whitish cap, a ring on the stem, and with a white float, which, like the stinking fly agaric, has a goblet-shaped thickening at the base of the stem, although there is no ring on it. See also articles about the department. groups of mushrooms.

Ecology DIRECTORY

Fungi are living organisms classified as a separate kingdom. They unite about 100 thousand species and are heterotrophic organisms, similar in a number of characteristics to both plants and animals. They have a cell membrane, are immobile and feed by absorbing necessary substances, and have unlimited growth - all this brings them closer to plants. At the same time, fungi are not able to synthesize organic substances from inorganic ones, do not have chloroplasts, and this makes them similar to animals. Mushrooms are divided into higher and lower. Of the latter, yeasts and molds are well known to everyone, and the higher ones are those mushrooms that grow in the form of caps everywhere on Earth in the presence of a nutrient medium and optimal conditions. According to the method of feeding, there are saprophytes that feed on various kinds of organic residues, and parasites that live on other organisms. [...]

In addition, it is assumed that the presence of the fungus in the tissues of underground organs could also contribute to increasing the resistance of higher plants to drying out. [...]

Mushrooms. Fungi1 are one of the largest and most prosperous groups of organisms. The diversity of fungi covers organisms such as unicellular yeasts, molds, pathogens and, finally, higher fungi, which are often large in size and consumed by humans. [...]

They are especially common in the soil of the rhizosphere of many herbaceous plants. Many of them cause diseases of higher plants.[...]

Fungi have a very strong tendency to form symbiotic formations: the mycelium of a number of fungi, together with the roots of higher plants, forms mycorrhiza. This makes it possible to create complex trophic relationships, during which fungi acquire the ability to decompose soil organic matter that is inaccessible to higher plants, assist plants in the absorption of phosphates and nitrogen compounds, and produce substances - “growth activators.” In response, they primarily receive carbohydrates. Symbiosis in the form of mycorrhiza is the most interpenetrating. It has been established that when the fungus is removed, the host plants slow down their growth, some produce seeds that do not germinate, which has been noted, in particular, in orchids.[...]

Fungi of the genus Phyllosticta (Phypomy a) parasitize living leaves of higher plants, less often on stems or fruits, causing round, oblong or angular spots, often sharply delimited from intact tissue by a darker narrow or wide border. The affected tissue sometimes falls out and the leaves become perforated. [...]

Fungi of this order cause the phenomenon of black spot, which forms a black coating of mycelium on the leaves and stems of plants. Capnodial fungi develop due to the secretions of aphids and therefore are not parasites of the plants on which they live. However, the black coating of mycelium causes a decrease in the photosynthetic activity of the corresponding higher plants. Most representatives of the capnodial order grow in warm climates. In the temperate zone of the globe, only a few mushrooms belonging to the genus Capnodium are found. [...]

In mushrooms of this genus, the mycelium is asterinoid, dark brown, developing on the surface of living leaves, less often on the stems and branches of higher plants. The fruiting bodies are leathery, spherical, black-brown. The bags are almost spherical or ovoid, less often club-shaped. [...]

The higher fungi include the classes of marsupial fungi and basidiomycetes. Their vegetative body is a well-developed filamentous multicellular mycelium; they have morphologically clearly differentiated reproductive organs. Marsupial fungi have asexual vegetative and sexual reproduction. They are named so because during sexual reproduction, spores are formed in small oval or oblong shaped organs called bursae. The bags are enclosed in fruiting bodies - ascocarps. Vegetative spores, or conidia, are formed on differentiated processes of the mycelium - conidiophores (Fig. 24). Basidial fungi also reproduce sexually and asexually, or vegetatively. As a result of the sexual process, special organs are formed - basidia, each of which carries four spores. [...]

Like fungi - parasites of higher plants, mycoparasites differ in the nature of their nutrition. Some of them can feed only on the contents of living host cells, and therefore they are called biotrophic mycoparasites. Others first kill host cells by producing antibiotics or enzymes and then feed on the contents of the dead cells. The boundary between these two groups of mycoparasites is not always clear. [...]

Among fungi and bacteria there are parasites, pathogens of various diseases of agricultural crops, as well as microbes that destroy salts available to plants, such as saltpeter, releasing molecular nitrogen. The possibility of competition between higher plants and microorganisms for minerals has been noted more than once in the literature. Consequently, there is no reason to classify all microflora in the soil as beneficial for plants.[...]

Soil fungi and higher plants are in close relationship. A unique and quite favorable habitat for many soil microscopic fungi is the rhizosphere, that is, a 2-3 mm layer of soil directly adjacent to the roots. The plant saturates the rhizosphere layer of soil with its root secretions, containing various energy substances, which provide an excellent nutrient substrate for the development of fungi. In addition, the rhizosphere soil layer is saturated with root litter, which is also well assimilated by microscopic soil fungi. In addition, plant roots mechanically change and loosen the soil structure, improving its aeration. Therefore, all soil microorganisms, including microscopic fungi, develop abundantly in the rhizosphere.[...]

Taphrinaceae are one of the most specialized representatives of higher fungi, grouped into one family, Taphrinaceae, with one genus, Taphrina, which includes about 100 species. All of them lead a parasitic lifestyle, causing the formation of galls, “witches’ brooms”, deformation of leaves, and various deformities on higher plants. There are no fruiting bodies. Fungal mycelium spreads throughout the intercellular spaces and cells in the tissues of host plants, i.e. it is endophytic. In many species, the mycelium overwinters, remaining year after year in cracks in the bark, in the stems and buds of affected plants.[...]

Smut fungi are distributed from the Arctic to the tropics, almost everywhere where higher plants grow, not excluding deserts and mountains.[...]

The latter are often designated as + and -.[...]

Truffle mushrooms are obligatory mycorrhiza-formers and therefore grow in the vicinity of certain higher plants. For example, black truffles (Tuber melanosporum, T. aestivum) grow in forests with plus-bearing trees - oak, beech, hornbeam, hazel. These trees and the special type of soil provide favorable conditions for the growth of truffles. White truffles (T. magnatum, Choiromyces meandriformis) grow in deciduous forests with birch, poplar, elm, linden, willow, rowan, and hawthorn. Occasionally, truffles form mycorrhizae with trees such as juniper, fir and pine.[...]

Mycorrhizal fungi play a positive role in the nutrition of higher plants. Along with the widespread idea of ​​fusariums as facultative parasites, an opinion has been expressed about their phytosymbiotrophic nature and belonging to mycorrhizal fungi. Some species of the Fusarium genus develop in the root zone of plants or on their roots and do not always have parasitic properties. These fungi accumulate in the soil during long-term cultivation of plants and use not only soil organic matter as food, but also root exudates of plants. Being in close contact with root cells, fusarium absorbs their nutrients and at the same time provides the plant with the compounds necessary for its development. Thus, the fusarium that develops in the tissues of the roots of certain plants and does not cause a detrimental effect on the growth and development of the latter can be classified as mycorrhizal or phytosymbiont fungi. For example, the fungi F. sambucinum and F. heterosporum, which develop on the roots of wheat, have a positive effect on the growth and development of the latter and especially on its root system. Many representatives of the Fusarium genus are only companions of pathogens. Thus, of the numerous species of fungi of this genus involved in the infection of beets by black rot, not all are pathogenic.[...]

Many types of fungi are in symbiosis with higher plants and contribute to the supply of nutrients to plants.[...]

Some mushrooms (especially honey mushrooms and house mushrooms) have more powerful cords; they are called rhizomorphs (they reach several meters in length and several millimeters in thickness). In rhizomorphs, the walls of the outer hyphae are dark in color, while the inner hyphae are usually white. The purpose of rhizomorphs is the same as that of thin cords, and in some cases inside the rhizomorphs there are special conducting tubes - wide hyphae, reminiscent of the vessels of higher plants. [...]

The ways in which higher plants are infected by smut fungi are different. There are four main paths. The first is characterized by the fact that smut spores, retained on the seeds or preserved in the soil, germinate on the host plant, in particular on the hatched seed, even before seedlings are formed. This route of infection is characteristic of the pathogens of hard (wet) smut of wheat (Tilletia caries, Fig. 212), smut of rye (Tilletia secalis) and smut of barley (Tilletia hordei), stem smut of rye (Urocystis occulta) and stem smut of wheat (Urocystis tritici), loose smut, corn (Sorosporium reilianum, table 51), etc. [...]

Peronosporous fungi are extremely widespread around the globe. Some of them are found absolutely everywhere where higher plants grow. These include, for example, cystopian fungi, found both in the Arctic Circle and in the tropics. As you move from south to north, the number of species noticeably decreases. Due to the peculiarities of their development and way of life, they are most widespread in the lowlands, where they settle on plains in stations adjacent to rivers, lakes and other natural and artificial reservoirs, characterized by a special microclimate, mainly high humidity. Many species live in foothill zones, some are also found in the mountains, mainly in damp gorges on shade-tolerant plants. In the lower mountain belt, up to approximately 1000 m above sea level, a fairly large number of species of mushrooms can live. In the highlands - in the middle, upper and subalpine zones - there are noticeably fewer of them. Certain lowland species do not ascend to the highlands, and certain highland species do not descend to the plains. A small number of species also live in steppes and deserts. However, certain species of downy mildew fungi have also been recorded in the desert.[...]

The mycelium of smut fungi grows primarily in living cells of the host plant. Hyphae look like thin, colorless threads with a diameter of 5-8 microns. In infected cells, hyphae form haustoria, which are usually grape-shaped and contribute to the exchange of substances between the fungus and the higher plant.[...]

The chemical effect of higher fungi on the human body has been known for a long time. In Europe, the pale grebe (Amanita phalloïdes) has gained an ominous reputation, and over the centuries this reputation has only strengthened. No less dangerous species of toadstools grow in North America, such as Amanita virosa, A, verna, A. tenuifolia and A. bisporigera: Toadstool poisoning is all the more dangerous because its symptoms appear only at a late stage, when damage to the liver and kidneys is already irreversible and death is inevitable. We know about the venom of toadstools mainly thanks to the brilliant research of Theodor Wieland and Otto Wieland [59]. Grebes are characterized by two groups of toxic substances: phallotoxins, of which phalloidin is a representative (24, Fig. 3), and amatoxins, for example a-amanitin (29). For humans, the lethal dose of amanitin is 0.1 mg/kg: therefore, one pale grebe weighing 50 g, containing about 7 mg of this poison, is enough to kill a person. This substance, when introduced into the gastrointestinal tract of a mouse in a sufficiently high dose (5 mg/kg) and, moreover, simultaneously with poison, completely protects the animal from poisoning. This observation is very interesting, however, the therapeutic use of antamanide is limited by the fact that it is only a preventive antidote. [...]

What is called roots in most higher plants is actually mycorrhiza (“fungal root”) - a close mutualism of fungi and root tissue, in which fungi help their hosts obtain mineral nutrition, and they themselves take from the plant part of the organic carbon they need (see recent review by Harley, Smith, 1983). Only representatives of very few families, for example, cruciferous plants, do not form such an association. Most mosses, ferns, mosses, gymnosperms and angiosperms have tissues more or less closely intertwined with fungal mycelium. All dominant types of vegetation on Earth - forest trees, grasses and shrubs - have well-defined mycorrhiza. Fossil remains of the oldest land plants suggest their close relationship with fungi. These forms do not yet have root hairs, and in some cases even roots, so the colonization of land could depend on the presence of mutualistic fungi.[...]

This order of marsupial fungi unites several hundred species, most of which develop on plant litter, dried branches and leaves of woody plants, shrubs and shrubs, as well as on herbaceous and higher spore plants. Some fungi infect the green organs of plants, as well as the phloem bark, and cause their death, which often leads to mass death of young plants in nurseries, crops and forests.[...]

The chloroplast genome of a number of higher plants consists of 120 genes. The chloroplast genome is very similar to the bacterial genome in both organization and function. The human mitochondrial genome probably lacks introns, but introns are found in the DNA of the chloroplasts of some higher plants, as well as in the DNA of mitochondria of fungi. It is believed that the chloroplast genomes of higher plants remain unchanged for approximately several million years. It is possible that such antiquity is also characteristic of the mitochondrial genomes of mammals, including humans.[...]

Damage to roots by pythium fungi is called root rot or root rot. Root rot affects seedlings of sugar beets, cotton, alfalfa and trees (Fig. 29.2). The root beetle develops especially strongly in years with a cold and wet spring, when the root system develops slowly, and individual sections of the roots die due to lack of air in waterlogged soil. Dead cells are not capable of active physiological defense and are easily colonized by fungi, serving as a gateway to infection. Having settled on dead areas of roots, the parasite feeds there and releases toxic substances that kill living areas adjacent to the dead ones. In this way, the parasite moves through the host tissue. Similar types of pythium fungi, as well as parasites of algae, are widely specialized and can infect tens and hundreds of species of higher plants from different genera and families.[...]

Infection of plants with smut fungi remains externally invisible for a long time. The fungus usually penetrates very young organs of a higher plant, and subsequently the growth of these organs and the growth of mycelium in them occur simultaneously. Many smut fungi, developing in the host plant, after germination of smut spores penetrate its entire stem, and often also other organs. However, many smut fungi, such as Ustilago maydis, do not spread far from the site of spore germination. Infection that occurs in this way is local.[...]

More than half of the species of smut fungi parasitize cereals. Other families most commonly affected by smut fungi are the sedge, asteraceae, ranunculaceae, buckwheat, violet, clove and lily. At the same time, species of about 75 families of higher plants are not at all affected by the fungi in question. It should be noted that the most common hosts of smut fungi are herbaceous plants, but sometimes they infect trees and shrubs, in particular from the willow, laurel, linden and rosaceae families.[...]

Currently, more than 500 species of fungi from the genus Phyllosticta are known. They cause plant diseases - phyllostictoses. More often they are known on representatives of Rosaceae, legumes, Compositae and other families of higher plants.[...]

In addition to all of the above, the process of decomposition of dead fungi also creates in the soil a large supply of digestible food for higher plants. It must be borne in mind that the number of generations of microscopic fungi in the soil in the zone of plant roots during the growing season changes from seven to ten and sometimes more times.[...]

The second volume of the publication “Plant Life” describes the lifestyle of fungi and a group of organisms close to them - slime molds (myxomycetes). In a popular form, general information about the structure of mushrooms, methods of their reproduction, types of sporulation and fruiting bodies, and methods of nutrition are covered. The variety of mushrooms is described systematically from lower to higher. The volume is illustrated with color and tone plates, original drawings, maps and diagrams. [...]

Direct evolutionary connections of the genus Suerie with other lower fungi have not been established. It is possible that transitional forms in the process of historical development fell out of the phylogenetic series. Sporulation, characteristic of fungi of this genus, consists of a layer of closely knit conidiophores, reminiscent of the hymenial layer in higher fungi, and is not found in other lower fungi.[...]

A typical example of symbiosis is the close cohabitation between fungi and algae, leading to the formation of a more complex plant organism - a lichen - that is more adapted to natural conditions. Another striking example of symbiotic cohabitation in the soil is the symbiosis of fungi with higher plants, when fungi form microorganisms on the roots of plants. A clear symbiosis is observed between nodule bacteria and leguminous plants. [...]

It has recently been suggested that the transition of the algal ancestor of higher plants to terrestrial conditions was significantly facilitated by symbiosis with fungi. As is known, symbiosis with fungi is characteristic of most higher plants, and its most common form is the symbiosis of fungi with underground organs (the so-called mycorrhiza).[...]

Unlike the highly specialized parasite that P. infestans is, this fungus is at the lowest level of parasitic specialization. P. cactorum is a wound parasite that produces strong toxins. Its mycelium passes inside the host tissues both intercellularly and through cells without forming haustoria. The fungus is very widely specialized, affecting 83 genera of higher plants from 44 families, but it is still most closely associated with the defeat of Rosaceae (13 species are affected), legumes (And species) and pines (10 species). Cereals are not affected at all. The fungus is not particularly associated with damage to any organs, causing root rot of seedlings (especially in pines), root rot (in legumes), rot of the base of the stem (in lilies), rot of bark and fruits (in Rosaceae), rot of the core and buds (in rhododendrons, peonies).[...]

All cultivated grape species and varieties are susceptible to this disease (to varying degrees, of course). This fungus also affects almost all fruit trees; in addition, the host plant range of the fungus includes roses, oak, beans, potatoes, spruce, pine and other plants. The fungus develops most strongly in damp places, most often on clay and marly soils that are waterlogged. On such soils, higher plants are weakened due to a lack of iron and manganese. Although the total amount of iron may be high (as well as manganese), these elements, especially iron, are in the form of divalent ions and are not only unavailable to the plant, but also have a toxic effect. On hill slopes, on alluvial sands, calcareous and granite soils, plant disease is observed relatively less frequently. [...]

At elevated temperatures (more than 20 ° C), drops can quickly dry out, therefore, in some types of pytium fungi, in the process of evolution, the ability to germinate zoosporangia separated from the zoosporangiophores under such conditions directly with a germ tube, which is embedded in plant tissue. Thus, in the Pythium family, depending on living conditions, all variations of asexual reproduction can be observed, from typical zoosporangia, characteristic of algae and aquatic fungi, to conidia, characteristic of terrestrial higher fungi.[...]

The formed bags fit tightly to each other, forming a more or less regular layer, similar to the hymenium of higher marsupial fungi. However, unlike the latter, the hymenium of taphrin mushrooms is not enclosed in any special fruiting bodies. The bursa layer usually has a yellow, red, pink or purple tint, giving an unusual color to the infected organ. After completion of its formation, the diploid nucleus in the bag divides three times. As a result of this division, 8 haploid nuclei arise, which give rise to 8 ascospores. The spores are mostly round or ovoid and reach 7-10 microns in diameter. These ascospores are capable of budding, as a result of which their number in bags can increase by 2-4 times. [...]

The latest scientific data significantly expands our understanding of the boundaries of the biosphere. It was found that bacterial spores and mycelium of some fungi do not lose viability under high vacuum conditions (10 mm Hg). Bacteria have been found in the waters of nuclear reactors, some of them can withstand irradiation of about 2-3 million rads. At temperatures of liquid air, helium, and hydrogen, a number of bacteria remain alive. Even individual higher plants and insects tolerate temperatures approaching absolute zero (-273.16°C). Living bacteria capable of reproduction were found in oil waters at a depth of 2800 m, at the bottom of the oceans (11 km), in brines with a concentration of 250 g/l, at pressures equal to 1000 atmospheres, after 5 days of boiling, 150-250 years of suspended animation (Kovda). However, it is generally believed that the biosphere as a region of life covers the upper part of the lithosphere, the entire hydrosphere, the troposphere and the lower layers of the stratosphere up to 25 km in height. Everyday, the real boundaries of the distribution of living things are narrower.[...]

Cellulose is the primary food for these organisms, and an enzyme is necessary to digest it. There is evidence of the formation of cellulase also in higher plants [23], where its role is apparently reduced to softening cell walls before their growth. For higher plants and most higher animals (except ruminants), cellulose is not a nutrient. Since cellulose is insoluble, it must be broken down outside the cell membrane, that is, on the surface of the fungal cell or at some distance from it. At the points of contact of fungal hyphae with the cell walls of cellulose materials, holes are formed; dissolution of the cell walls is observed even at some distance from the penetrating hyphae [28]. During cultivation, fungi release cellulolytic enzymes into the culture medium. Almost nothing is known about the secretion mechanism, although it can be assumed that living cells secrete rather than dead ones. [...]

Mitochondria, or chondriosomes, are called organelles of eukaryotic cells, which are membrane-bound intracellular formations. Their shape and size are different - from oval and pear-shaped bodies to thread-like or branched. According to their purpose, mitochondria are centers of concentration of energy metabolism enzymes. M. N. Meisel discovered [175] that yeast cells during fermentation contain a smaller number of mitochondria, which are hypertrophied (fermentation cell type). A similar picture is observed under aerobic conditions with an excess of carbohydrates in the environment, especially sucrose and glucose. Cytologically, a fermentative restructuring of the mitochondrial apparatus is observed. [...]

Among microbiologists of the Soviet Union, the idea of ​​actinomycetes was formed on the basis of the views developed by the largest Soviet microbiologist N.A. Krasilnikov, who did not consider actinomycetes to be bacteria and classified them into an independent taxonomic category - the class of actinomycetes. Krasilnikov divided all radiant mushrooms into higher and lower. Organisms with well-developed mycelium and reproductive organs are classified as higher. Organisms that do not form mycelium and have rod-shaped or coccoid-shaped cells were classified by him as lower. The characteristic features of actinomycetes given here are, according to Krasilnikov, signs of higher forms. The lower ones are very close to gram-positive bacteria. In the 8th edition of Bergi's key, all actinomycetes, without exception, are unconditionally classified as bacteria.[...]

All this indicates profound changes in the soil after nine years of annual herbicide application. As a result, the conditions for the existence of microorganisms and the quantity and quality of energy material entering the soil change dramatically. If in the control the influx of fresh organic matter is provided by higher herbaceous plants, then in the variant with herbicides it is mainly due to fallen pine needles, mosses and some types of blue-green algae. This causes a relative decrease in the number of saprophytic fungi and bacteria that use readily available organic substances, on the one hand, and an increase in the number of microorganisms that destroy humates, on the other. Thus, qualitative changes occur: the dominant position in the community of soil microorganisms is occupied by an autochthonous group that decomposes soil humus.[...]

It is curious that Colley /9/ already in 1907 suggested that acetic acid is a precursor in the formation of certain plant phenols. In 1935, Fischer /10/ noted that shikimic and quinic acids can serve as intermediate products in the formation of gallic acid. Experiments on microorganisms, molds and fungi, and bacterial mutants conducted by many authors in recent years confirm both of these mechanisms. The proof that similar processes occur in higher plants is based on the principle of dialectical unity of metabolic mechanisms in nature. The results of the use of radioisotope technology in the study of higher plants confirm the conclusion about such unity. In the case of the mechanism of formation of phenolic compounds through shikimic acid, its presence and the presence of its derivatives in plant tissues were also established. This mechanism is also confirmed by the participation of two enzymes in this metabolic system - 5-dehydroquinase and 5-dehydroshikimoreductase. [...]

Algae directly or indirectly participate in enriching the soil with nitrogen. Many blue-green algae are atmospheric nitrogen fixers. In the soils of the USSR, 95 species of algae were discovered, for which nitrogen fixation was experimentally proven. In virgin soils of the temperate zone, the accumulation of nitrogen by algae reaches 17-24 kg/ha, and in irrigated fields of the tropical zone - up to 90 kg/ha. Using the method of labeled atoms it has been proven that nitrogen fixed by algae can be absorbed by other algae, fungi and higher plants.[...]

The life of every plant, like an animal, has a beginning and an end. In any forest, along with living trees, shrubs, and grasses, there is windfall, dead wood, branches that have broken off and fallen to the ground. Everywhere there is a more or less thick layer of litter, consisting mainly of fallen leaves, pine needles, etc. In fields, meadows, and gardens, after the growing season of plants, a lot of plant residues also accumulate. This entire mass of organic matter decomposes mainly under the influence of fungi, turning into simpler compounds and then into soil. Thus, mushrooms perform an important function in the general cycle of substances in nature. The main role here belongs to higher basidiomycetes and marsupial fungi. But some imperfect fungi also take part in this.[...]

The vast majority of single-celled organisms are asexual creatures and reproduce by cell division, which leads to the continuous formation of new individuals. The division of a prokaryotic cell, from which these organisms mainly consist, begins with the division of the hereditary substance - DNA, by mitosis, around the halves of which two nuclear regions of daughter cells - new organisms - are subsequently formed. Since division occurs by mitosis, the daughter organisms, according to hereditary characteristics, completely reproduce the maternal individual. Many asexual plants (algae, mosses, ferns), fungi and some single-celled animals form spores - cells with dense membranes that protect them from unfavorable environmental conditions!. Under favorable conditions, the spore shell opens and the cell begins to fuse by mitosis, giving rise to a new organism. Asexual reproduction is also budding, when a small part of the body is separated from the parent individual, from which a new organism then develops. Vegetative reproduction in higher plants is also asexual. In all cases, during asexual reproduction, genetically identical organisms are reproduced in large numbers, almost completely copying the parent organism. For single-celled organisms, cell division is an act of survival, since organisms that do not reproduce are doomed to extinction. Reproduction and the growth associated with it bring fresh materials into the cell and effectively prevent aging, thereby giving it potential immortality.[...]

Relevance of the study: Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are a unique class of organic substances that play an important role in biological systems. Research over the past three decades has revealed a wide range of their functions in living organisms. PUFAs undergo biotransformation by lipoxygenases or cyclooxygenases, which leads to the formation of numerous low-molecular-weight regulators of processes occurring in cells, tissues and the body as a whole. One of the most important PUFAs is arachidonic acid (AA), which acts as a direct precursor to a series of prostaglandins, leukotrienes and thromboxanes. The main areas of application of AK are: pharmacology (predecessor of various medicinal and prophylactic drugs used for diseases of the cardiovascular system, liver, etc.); cosmetics industry (skin care products); food industry (fortification of various food products, including artificial infant formula, etc.); agriculture (a highly effective stimulator of plant growth and protective reactions), etc. Currently, the main source of AA production is lipid extracts from pig liver and other animal organs, which makes their large-scale production ineffective (AA content is no more than 0.2% in terms of per dry weight). Over the past twenty years, significant advances have been made in the biotechnological production of AA using lower fungi and algae, which in some cases have made it possible to carry out its industrial production. However, the biotechnologies that exist today for the production of AA are far from perfect, since its yield in laboratory conditions in the best cases is 13 g/l (Japan), and on average, various researchers have about 6-10 g/l (Russia, USA, Poland and etc.). In this regard, it is relevant to search and create domestic producers of AA and effective biotechnologies for its production based on them. This work was carried out according to the plans of the most important research work of the Ufa State Petroleum Technical University (USPTU) in accordance with the federal target program “State support for the integration of higher education and fundamental science” for 1997-2001. and 2002-2006[...]