Functioning of Agaricomycetes - Essay Example

Agaricomycetes are a class of fungi. Its taxon is approximately similar to that of Homobasidiomycetes with the inclusion of Auriculariales and Sebacinales. The Agaricomycetes consist of about 16,000 defined species- 98% of the defined species in Agaricomycotina (Pöggeler & Wöstemeyer, 80). The variety of forms in the Agaricomycetes is unmatched even though other fungi generate macroscopic fruiting bodies as well.

Agaricomycetes’ fruiting bodies range from millimetre-scale syphiloid forms to the giant polypores Rigidoporus ulmarius and Bridgeoporus nobilissimus. Perhaps Agaricomycetes are the largest and oldest individuals in any group of organisms, and they include the largest fruiting bodies in fungi (Pöggeler & Wöstemeyer, 83). Armillaria gallicajkb generates average-sized mushrooms though their mycelial networks have been approximated to cover areas up to 15 hectares.

According to Miller et al. (26), Agricomycetes serve as decayers, parasites, pathogens and mutualistic symbionts for both animals and plants. They create their widest ecological effects via their activities like wood-decayers and ectomycorrhizal symbionts of forest trees. Agaricomycetes are extensive in nearly all terrestrial ecosystems, and a few have secondarily returned to aquatic habitats.

Miller et al. (31) assert that Agaricomycetes have a lifecycle similar to that of Basidiomycota. These fungi are nearly usually filamentous, with no yeast phase. Nevertheless, yeasts are produced by some agaricomycetes that are cultivated in an underground fungus garden by attine ants in the neotropics. The hyphae are divided by septa which are infiltrated by a barrel-shaped dolipore that is bordered by membrane-bound parenthesomes in filamentous form. A dikaryotic mycelium is the dominant stage in the lifecycle although stable diploids have been reported in Armillaria. In some species, dikaryotic and monokaryotic mycelia have been shown to generate asexual spores though asexual forms are not as extensive as in the Ascomycota. Mushrooms are multicellular fruiting bodies generated by dikaryotic mycelia under conducive.

There are many forms of mushrooms including puffballs, crustlike resupinate, bracket fungi, and coralloid forms. The basis for the 19th classification of Agaricomycetes and other fungi was the gross morphology of fruiting bodies. The Friesian taxa are no longer viewed as natural entities although these groups remain essential for grouping fruiting body forms and they are emphasized in numerous essential field guides (Morgenstern, 112). Puffballs and false-truffles are the most common gasteroid forms. Puffballs and false truffles have developed independently in multiple clades of Agaricomycetes. Bird’s nest fungi, earthstars, and the cannon-ball fungus are the uniquely-evolved gasteroid forms.

Agaricomycetes serve as human food since they form the majority of edible mushrooms. Cultivated edible Agaricomycetes are decayers that have been domesticated. Mycorrhizal are most of the wild-collected edible species (Books Llc, 74). However, mushroom hunters should be aware that some species of Agaricomycetes are generating secondary metabolites that make them toxic or hallucinogenic. In diverse human societies, mushrooms have been used for spiritual and medical purposes.