Fungal Word Friday: Disjunctor cell

First, I apologize that this is on Saturday and not Friday as it should be, I dropped the ball, much as I have been doing of recent weeks on my more in depth pieces. I will find a way to get back on task.

A Disjunctor cell is a cell that breaks open, or undergoes lysis of some form in order to release a conidium.

Coccidioides immitis showing a disjunctor cell on the right.

Photo cred: http://www.studydroid.com/imageCards/03/ef/card-3620318-front.jpg

Fungal Word Friday: Cystidium

Cystidium is a large cell generally seen between clusters of basidia of a basidiomycete. They have a variety of morphological characteristics that can be used to help with species identification. 

Cystidium stained with Congo red

There are several classifications of cystida based on where they grow on the mushroom (on the edge of the lamella, on the face of the lamella, on the margin or surface of the cap, or along the stipe.)
 In addition they can be classified by structure; do they contain a refreactive yellow body (Chrysocystidia), or do they have a granular or oily appearance (Gleocystidia.)

Photo Cred: Peter G Werner (Own image) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Fungal Word Friday: Hydrophobin

Fungi live all over the place... duh. The thing is, those fungi need to be able to withstand a wide range of environments and pressures in order to do so. On of their tools for survival is a group of proteins called hydrophobins.

Hydrophobin Water Resistant Monolayer assemble!

Hydrophobins are less then 100 amino acids long and rich in cysteine. What makes them special is that only filamentous fungi produce them and they have the ability to self assemble into a monolayer along  hydrophobic:hydrophilic barriers, such as water and air.
Basically hydrophobins give filamentous fungi a barrier to help moderate its interaction with the environment, allowing them to grow in all sorts of habitats.


Photo cred:  Lijealso [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Mushroom of the Month: Common Split Gill

For Christmas I received the National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms. In addition to that, I went out walking on Christmas Eve and found a mushroom. Taking those two things into consideration, I had no other option than to use the key from the Christmas gift I received to identify the mushroom I found over my Christmas holiday for the first Mushroom of the Month in 2013.

I found this fuzzy little thing in South East Kansas on  December 24, 2012.

White to Cream or Yellow Spore Key

1. Gills and or flesh exuding white, colored or clear

fluid (latex) when cut; gills attached; veils absent; on

the ground--Lactarius pp. 680-697

1. Gills, etc., not exuding latex when cut--2

2. Gills brittle, typically flaking when flicked with

finger; cap often some shade of red or purple; gills

attached; veils absent; on the ground--Russula pp. 697707

2. Gills not as above--3

3. A ring of tissue present on stalk or cuplike tissue

about stalk base or both--see Key A.

3. Not as above--4

4. Stalk off-center to lateral or absent; on wood or

wood debris--see Key B

Key B

(Stalk Off-Center to Lateral or Absent)

1. Mushrooms tough to leathery or woody--2

1. Mushrooms fleshy to firm-- 10

2. Mushrooms tough--3

2. Mushrooms leathery to woody -- 7

7. Mushroom fanlike; "gills" irregular, fleshy--8

7. Mushroom shelflike; "gills" regular, leathery--9

8. Cap white-hairy; "gills" split lengthwise--

Schizophyllum commune

And there we have it, the mushroom of the month is Schizophyllum commune,also known as the Common Split Gill. Which is thought to be the most widespread mushroom in the world, growing on every continent except Antarctica.