The Fungal Cell Wall And Its Effects On The Environment

One major difference is that fungal cells have cell walls that contain chitin, unlike the cell walls of plants, which contain cellulose.The chitin adds rigidity and structural support to the thin cells of the fungus, and makes fresh mushrooms crisp

The purpose of this investigation is to test the effect of different sugar sources on yeast respiration.

Fungi are multi-celled organisms that form a third Kingdom of life, along with the plant kingdom and the animal kingdom.

Cytochalasins are a group of small organic fungal metabolites which are capable of permeating cell membranes

Yeast is a fungus that can generate glucose into energy without using any oxygen molecules. We tested the fermenting ability of yeast from two different carbon sources: glucose and aspartame. We hypothesized that yeast is unable to use the carbon sources of aspartame. To do this, we decided to use both carbon sources in the same concentration. Each carbon source was mixed with the same amount of yeast solution. The experiment group of 5.5 mM aspartame solution was compared with the control group of 5.5mM glucose solution. We recorded the rate of fermentation for glucose and aspartame in the Vernier Lab Quest. The fermentation rate of aspartame is a negative number, and glucose is a positive number. Our results show that yeast was unable to ferment aspartame as yeast fermented glucose. The results indicate that aspartame has no effect on yeast fermentation rate because yeast do not catabolize aspartame because it does not have the appropriate enzymes to break it down.

Mycoplasma: facultative or obligate anaerobes, lack cell walls (stain pink when Gram stained). Smallest free-living cells (0.2µm to 0.8µm in diameter). Have tough cytoplasmic membranes that contain lipids (called sterols) that give the membranes strength and rigidity. Named Mycoplasmas because of their filamentous forms - resemble the filaments of fungi. Mycoplasmas have a terminal structure used for attachment to eukaryotic cells, that give them a pear like shape - overall shape is pleomorphic. When growing on solid media, most species form a distinctive “fried egg” appearance

In this lab we tried to find what fuels yeast could metabolize and what the yields of the carbon dioxide gas that were produced from the different sugars used. We used 6 different yeast and sugar mixtures. The different yeast and sugar mixtures we used were control, glucose, sucrose, fructose, starch, and saccharin. The results for the 6 different results are presented in Tables 1-6 and Graph 1. Graph 1 is a graph of all the information in Tables 1-6. Each Table and graph is labeled approximately.

Fungicides are a class of pesticides that are designed to kill or limit the growth of harmful fungi. "Understanding mechanisms of fungicide action and toxicity is important because humans and domesticated animals encounter these pesticides through a wide variety of applications. In agriculture, fungicides are used to protect tubers, fruits and vegetables during storage or are applied directly to ornamental plants, trees, field crops, cereals and turf grasses" (Hasan 2010: 349). It is very easy to inadvertently and indirectly consume fungicides as a result because of their ubiquitous use, even though many of the components of fungicides can be harmful to human health, animal health and to the environment as a whole.

4. Compare and contrast the structure of a fungal mycelium with the structure of a filamentous alga.

The Gram-positive cell wall is composed of peptidoglycans, a thick layer of protein-sugar complexes taking up 60-90% of their cell wall. Peptidoglycan is composed of two glucose derivatives, N-acetylmuramic acid and N-acetylglucosamine alternated and cross-linked by tetrapeptides that is composed of L-alanine, D-glutamine, L-lysine

Polyene target ergosterol which is main sterol component of fungal membranes. Eight AmB molecules bind eight ergosterol molecules through their hydrophobic moieties, with their hydrophilic sides forming a central channel of 70–100nm in diameter. Because of such channel, polyene leads to leakage of intracellular components such as K+ ions, hence cell lysis occur.

The observation under the microscope of a cell of an onion skin soaked for 15 minutes in a 0.5 molar sucrose solution showed a cell membrane just beneath the cell wall. The cell wall had a rectangular shape. See diagram 3 for sketch. The cell and its surrounding were in an isotonic solution. The two solutions in the cell and out (0.5 molar sucrose solution) of the cell were homogenous. No net movement of water and change in the cell structure was observed. The components of the solute and solvent were evenly intermixed. The concentration of solute and solvent on either side of the cell membrane was equalized. Because the onion tissue didn’t get any water the cell was flaccid and nonturgid.

After the conclusion of our experiment we refuted our original hypothesis of, “If the type of fungus (parasite or saprophyte) affects the enzyme activity, and you measure enzymes in lion’s mane an enoki, then the lions mane will have less enzyme activity? ” because we found the opposite was apparent in our experiment. While we though the Lion's mane mushroom (parasite) would have less enzyme activity than that of the Enoki mushroom (saprophyte) because the Lion's mane mushroom grows on a living hardwood tree, while the Enoki grows on a dead hardwood tree. That we saw was that The Lion's mane (parasite) which grows on a living hardwood tree, had more enzyme activity than the Enoki (saprophyte) which grows on a dead hardwood tree.

Fungi typically have a suite of different enzymes capable of breaking down different types of plant compounds (lignin, cellulose, etc.). On the other hand, bacteria and archaea may only produce one or some of the necessary enzymes to break down these same compounds. In order for bacteria to break down those more complex compounds they have to form a consortium where each contributes a particular enzyme, each of which contributes to breaking certain bonds within those compounds. For example, cellulose breakdown requires a suite of three different enzyme systems: endocellulases break down the internal bonds, the exocellulases remove the ends of the chains, this forms cellobiose, which can be absorbed, but is further broken down by cellobiase intercellularly to create

The purpose of the testing and experiments conducted was to understand how the glycolysis in cell respiration works, to understand how the process of fermentation in yeast works and see the difference between fermentation and respiration in the yeast. Yeast is something that may not be alive, but when it is put in water with sugar, the yeast will take up the sugar and use the energy stored in the sugar molecules and carries out the processes of life. Living organisms are all similar in that they can take energy from their environments.