Reproduction of mushrooms

Breeding types of mushrooms

There are three types of fungal reproduction - vegetative, asexual and sexual. They often replace each other during the growth and development of fungi.

Vegetative propagation of fungi occurs by detaching parts of the mycelium, as well as budding, chlamydospores, arthrospores, gemstones. Isolation of parts of the mycelium is the main method of vegetative propagation of fungi. The mycelium can form in any part of the old mycelium that contains a capable cell. Areas of non-cellular mycelium are also suitable for reproduction. This method of propagation is used in the cultivation of domestic edible mushrooms.

Budding is a method of vegetative propagation of fungi. It is found in fungi with a yeast-like thallus. During this process, the daughter cell is separated from the mother by a septum and then functions as a separate unicellular organism. It should be noted that the yeast cell is incapable of budding indefinitely. The number of completed 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.

Arthrospores are special cells of vegetative reproduction 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 later give life to a new mycelium. Oidia have a thin shell and a short lifespan. They can also be found in other types of mushrooms.

Gemmas are a subspecies of oidia, they differ in a shell that is thicker and darker in color, and they also last longer. Gemmas are found in marsupials, as well as smut and imperfect ones.

Chlamydospores are needed for the 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 in the course of this process are covered with a dense shell of dark color. 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 arise 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 takes place 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 arise 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 dispersal in new places. They differ in origin, characteristics and methods of settlement. They are often protected by a dense protective shell of many layers or lack a cell wall; they can be multicellular, carried by wind, rain, animals, or even move independently with the help of flagella.

Zoospores are structures of asexual reproduction of fungi. They are bare areas 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 dispersal of fungi, contain an insignificant amount of nutrients and cannot remain viable for a long time. They arise endogenously in zoosporangia. Zoospores serve for the reproduction of lower fungi, which are mainly aquatic, but zoosporangia are also found in many terrestrial fungi that live on land plants.

Zoosporangium is a spore-bearing organ that forms motile spores of asexual reproduction 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 dispersal of fungi, contain an insignificant amount of nutrients and cannot remain viable for a long time. They arise endogenously within sporogenic organs (sporangia). Spores leave the sporangium through holes in the shell (pores) or when the integrity of the latter is violated. Endogenous sporulation occurs in more primitive fungi. Sporangiospores carry out asexual reproduction in zygomycetes.

Sporangium - this is the name of the spore-bearing organ, inside which immobile spores of asexual reproduction with a shell arise and grow. In most cases, in filamentous fungi, the sporangia is formed from the swelling of the apex of the hypha after it is separated from the maternal hypha by the septum. In the process of spore formation, the protoplast of the sporangium divides many times, forming many thousands of spores. In many species of fungi, hyphae bearing sporangia are morphologically very different from vegetative hyphae. In this case, they are called sporangienos.

Sporangiophores are fruiting hyphae on which sporangia arise.

Conidia are spores of asexual reproduction that form pointwise on the surface of a spore-bearing organ called conidiophores, which represents specialized sections of the mycelium. Common conidia are found in marsupials, basidial and anamorphic fungi. Imperfect fungi (deuteromycetes) can be propagated exclusively by conidia. The methods of formation of conidia, their features, associations and placement are very diverse. Conidia can be unicellular and multicellular, of various shapes. The degree of their coloration also varies - from transparent to golden, smoky, gray, olive, pinkish. The release of conidia is usually passive, but in some cases, active discarding is observed.