The kingdom of mushrooms includes many species. Lower fungi belong to microorganisms. A person can only see them through a microscope or on spoiled food. Higher mushrooms have a complex structure and large sizes. They can grow on the ground and on tree trunks, they are found where there is access to organic matter. The bodies of fungi are formed by thin, tightly adjacent hyphae. These are exactly the species that we used to collect in baskets while walking through the forest.
Higher mushrooms - agarics
Perhaps every person has an exact idea of what an ordinary mushroom looks like. Everyone knows where they can grow and when they can be found. But in reality, representatives of the kingdom of fungi are not so simple. They differ from each other in shape andstructure. The bodies of fungi are formed by a plexus of hyphae. Most of the species known to us have a stem and a cap that can be painted in different colors. Almost all mushrooms that a person eats are classified as agaric. This group includes such species as champignons, valui, mushrooms, chanterelles, honey mushrooms, porcini, volushki, etc. So it’s worth studying the structure of these mushrooms in more detail.
General structure of higher fungi
The bodies of fungi are formed by woven giant multinucleated cells - hyphae that make up the plectenchyma. In most cap representatives of the agaric order, it is clearly divided into a rounded cap and a stem. Some species related to aphyllophoric and morels also have such an external structure. However, even among agaric there are exceptions. In some species, the leg may be lateral or completely absent. And in Gasteromycetes, the bodies of fungi are formed in such a way that such a division is not detected, and they have no caps. They are tuberous, club-shaped, spherical or star-shaped.
The cap is protected by the skin, under which there is a layer of pulp. It may have a bright color and smell. The leg or stump is attached to the substrate. It can be soil, a living tree, or an animal corpse. The stump is usually dense, its surface varies depending on the species. It can be smooth, scaly, velvety.
Higher mushrooms reproduce sexually and asexually. The vast majority form spores. The vegetative body of a fungus is called a mycelium. It consists of thinbranching hyphae. A hypha is an elongated thread that has apical growth. They may not have partitions, in which case the mycelium consists of one giant multinucleated, highly branched cell. The vegetative body of fungi can develop not only in soil rich in organic matter, but also in the wood of living and dead trunks, on stumps, roots, and much less often on shrubs.
The structure of the fruiting body of the cap mushroom
The fruiting bodies of most Agariaceae are soft fleshy and juicy. When they die, they usually rot. Their life span is very short. For some mushrooms, it may take only a few hours from the moment they appear above the ground to the final stage of development, less often it lasts a couple of days.
The fruit body of mushrooms consists of a cap and a centrally located stem. Sometimes, as mentioned above, the leg may be missing. Hats come in various sizes, from a few millimeters to tens of centimeters. Walking through the forest, you can see how small mushrooms with a hat the size of a little finger pad have grown from the ground on thin, tender legs. And a heavy giant mushroom can sit next to them. Its hat grows up to 30 cm, and the leg is heavy and thick. Ceps and milk mushrooms can boast of such impressive sizes.
The shape of the hat is also different. Allocate pillow-shaped, hemispherical, flattened, bell-shaped, funnel-shaped, with an edge bent down or up. Often, during a short life, the shape of the cap changes several times.
The structure of the hatagaric mushrooms
Hats, like the bodies of mushrooms, are formed by hyphae. From above they are covered with a dense skin. It also consists of covering hyphae. Their function is to protect internal tissues from loss of vital moisture. This prevents the skin from drying out. It can be painted in different colors depending on the type of mushroom and its age. Some have white skin, while others are bright: orange, red or brown. It can be dry or, on the contrary, covered with thick mucus. Its surface is smooth and scaly, velvety or warty. In some species, for example, butter, the skin is easily removed completely. But for russula and waves, it lags behind only along the very edge. In many species, it is not removed at all and is firmly connected to the pulp that is under it.
Under the skin, therefore, the fruiting body of the fungus is formed by pulp - a barren tissue built from a plexus of hyphae. It varies in density. The flesh of some species is loose, while others are elastic. She can be brittle. This part of the fungus has a specific species odor. It can be sweet or nutty. The aroma of the pulp of some species is acrid or peppery-bitter, it happens with a rare and even garlic tinge.
As a rule, in most species, the flesh under the skin on the cap is light in color: white, milky, brownish or greenish. What are the structural features of the body of the fungus in this part? In some varieties, the color at the break point remains the same over time, while in others the color changes dramatically. Such changes are explained by the oxidative processes of coloringsubstances. A striking example of this phenomenon is the boletus. If you make a cut on its fruiting body, then this place will quickly darken. The same processes are observed in flywheel and bruise.
In the pulp of species such as volnushka, milk mushroom and camelina, there are special hyphae. Their walls are thickened. They are called milky passages and are filled with a colorless or colored liquid - juice.
Hymenium - fruitful layer
The fruiting body of the fungus is formed by pulp, under which, directly under the cap, there is a fruit-bearing layer - hymenium. This is a series of microscopic spore-bearing cells - basidium. In the majority of Agariaceae, the hymenium is located openly on the hymenophore. These are special protrusions located on the underside of the hat.
Hymenophore in different species of higher fungi has a different structure. For example, in chanterelles, it is presented in the form of thick branched folds that descend on their leg. But in blackberries, the hymenophore is in the form of brittle spines that are easily separated. In tubular fungi, tubules are formed, and in lamellar, respectively, plates. The hymenophore can be free (if it does not reach the stem) or adherent (if it fuses tightly with it). Hymenium is essential for reproduction. From the spores spreading around, a new vegetative body of the fungus is formed.
Mushroom spores
The structure of the fruiting body of a cap mushroom is not complicated. Its spores develop on fertile cells. All agaric fungi are unicellular. As in any eukaryotic cell, spores are distinguishedmembrane, cytoplasm, nucleus and other cell organelles. They also contain a large number of inclusions. Spore size - from 10 to 25 microns. Therefore, they can only be viewed through a microscope at good magnification. In shape, they are round, oval, spindle-shaped, grain-shaped and even star-shaped. Their shell also varies depending on the species. In some spores it is smooth, in others it is spiny, bristly or warty.
When released into the environment, spores often resemble powder. But the cells themselves are both colorless and colored. Often among the mushrooms there are yellow, brown, pink, red-brown, olive, purple, orange and even black spores. Mycologists pay great attention to the color and size of spores. These features are persistent and are often helpful in identifying fungal species.
The structure of the fruiting body: mushroom stem
The appearance of the fruiting body of the fungus is familiar to almost everyone. The leg, like the cap, is formed from tightly intertwined hyphae threads. But these giant cells differ in that their shell is thickened and has good strength. The leg is necessary for the mushroom to support. She lifts him above the substrate. The hyphae in the stalk are connected in bundles that are adjacent to each other in parallel and go from bottom to top. So water and mineral compounds flow from the mycelium to the hat through them. The legs are of two types: solid (the hyphae are pressed close) and hollow (when a cavity is visible between the hyphae - lactic). But in nature there areintermediate types. Such legs have a bruise and chestnut. In these species, the outer part is dense. And in the middle of the leg is filled with spongy pulp.
Everyone who has an idea of what the appearance of the fruiting body of a mushroom is like, knows that the legs differ not only in structure. They have different shapes and thicknesses. For example, in russula and butter, the leg is even and cylindrical. But for all the well-known boletus and boletus, it evenly expands to its base. There is also an obverse club-shaped hemp. It is very common among agaric mushrooms. Such a leg has a noticeable expansion at the base, which sometimes turns into a bulbous swelling. This form of hemp is most often detected in large species of fungi. It is characteristic of fly agarics, cobwebs, umbrellas. Mushrooms in which mycelium develops on wood often have a stem narrowed towards the base. It can be elongated and turn into a rhizomorph, stretching under the roots of a tree or stump.
So, what does the body of the agaric fungus consist of? This is a leg that raises it above the substrate, and a cap, in the lower part of which spores develop. Some types of mushrooms, for example, fly agaric, after the formation of the ground part, are covered with a whitish shell for some time. It is called the "common cover". As the fruiting body of the fungus grows, its pieces remain on the round hat, and on the base of the hemp there is a noticeably bag-like formation - Volvo. In some mushrooms it is free, while in others it is adherent and looks like a thickening or rollers. Also, the remains of the "common cover" are belts on the stem of the mushroom. They are visible in manyspecies, especially at an early stage of development. As a rule, in young mushrooms, the bands cover the emerging hymenophore.
Differences in the structure of cap mushrooms
Parts of the body of the fungus are different in different species. The fruiting bodies of some are not similar to the structure described above. There are exceptions among agaric mushrooms. And there are not many such species. But the lines and morels only superficially resemble agaric mushrooms. Their fruiting bodies also have a clear division into a cap and a stem. Their hat is fleshy and hollow. Its shape is usually conical. The surface is not smooth, but rather ribbed. The lines have an irregularly shaped hat. It is covered with easily perceptible sinuous folds. Unlike agaric fungi, in morels the spore-bearing layer is located on the surface of the cap. It is represented by "bags" or asks. These are receptacles in which spores are formed and accumulate. The presence of such a part of the body of the fungus as asca is characteristic of all marsupials. The stem of morels and pods is hollow, its surface is smooth and even, at the base there is a noticeable tuberous thickening.
Representatives of a different order - aphyllophorous mushrooms, also have capped fruiting bodies with a pronounced stem. This group includes chanterelles and blackberries. Their hat is rubbery or slightly woody in texture. A striking example of this is tinder fungi, which are also included in this order. As a rule, aphyllophoric fungi do not rot, as occurs in agaric fungi with their fleshy body. When they die, they dry up.
Also slightly different in structure frommost hat species are mushrooms of the order hornworts. Their fruiting body is club-shaped or coral-shaped. It is completely covered with hymenium. At the same time, an important feature of this order is the absence of a hymenophore.
Gasteromycetes also have an unusual structure. In this group, the body of the fungus is often called a tuber. In species included in this order, the shape can be very diverse: spherical, stellate, ovoid, pear-shaped and nest-shaped. Their size is rather big. Some mushrooms of this order reach a diameter of 30 cm. The most striking example of Gasteromycetes is a giant puffball.
Vegetative body of the fungus
The vegetative body of mushrooms is their mycelium (or mycelium), which is located in the ground or, for example, in wood. It consists of very thin threads - hyphae, the thickness of which varies from 1.5 to 10 mm. The hyphae are highly branched. Mycelium develops both in the substrate and on its surface. The length of mycelium in such a nutrient soil, such as forest floor, can reach 30 km per 1 gram.
So, the vegetative body of mushrooms consists of long hyphae. They grow only at the top, that is, apically. The structure of the fungus is very interesting. Mycelium in most species is non-cellular. It is devoid of intercellular partitions and is one giant cell. It has not one, but a large number of cores. But mycelium can also be cellular. In this case, under a microscope, the partitions separating one cell from another are clearly visible.
Development of the vegetative body of the fungus
So, the vegetative body of a fungus is called a mycelium. Once in a moist substrate rich in organic matter, spores of hat mushrooms germinate. It is from them that the long threads of the mycelium develop. They grow slowly. Only after accumulating a sufficient amount of nutritious organic and mineral substances, the mycelium forms fruiting bodies on the surface, which we call mushrooms. Their rudiments themselves appear in the first month of summer. But they finally develop only with the onset of favorable weather conditions. As a rule, there are a lot of mushrooms in the last month of summer and in the autumn period, when the rains come.
The nutrition of cap species is not at all like the processes occurring in algae or green plants. They cannot themselves synthesize the organic substances they need. Their cells do not have chlorophyll. They need ready-made nutrients. Since the vegetative body of the fungus is represented by hyphae, it is they that contribute to the absorption of water from the substrate with mineral compounds dissolved in it. Therefore, cap mushrooms prefer forest soils rich in humus. Less often they grow in meadows and in the steppe. Mushrooms take most of the organic matter they need from the roots of trees. Therefore, most often they grow in close proximity to them.
For example, all lovers of quiet hunting know that porcini mushrooms can always be found near birches, oaks and firs. But tasty mushrooms should be looked for in pine forests. Boletus grows in birch groves, and boletus grows in aspen. It's easy to explainthe fact that mushrooms establish a close relationship with trees. As a rule, it is useful for both types. When a densely branched mycelium braids the roots of a plant, it tries to penetrate into them. But it doesn't harm the tree at all. The thing is that, being located inside the cells, the mycelium sucks water from the soil and, of course, mineral compounds dissolved in it. At the same time, they also enter the cells of the roots, which means they serve as food for the tree. Thus, the overgrown mycelium performs the function of root hairs. This is especially useful for old roots. After all, they no longer have hairs. How is this symbiosis useful for fungi? They receive useful organic compounds from the plant that they need for nutrition. Only if there are enough of them, fruiting bodies of cap mushrooms develop on the surface of the substrate.
