Characteristic of Basidiomycotina :-

• 1-Basidiomycotina are filamentous fungi composed of septated hyphae (except for yeasts) are unicellular.
• 2-Heterotrophic saprobes – cells of hyphae secrete digestive enzymes and absorb products of digestion
• 3-include these groups: mushrooms3-include these groups: mushrooms, puffballs3-include these groups: mushrooms, puffballs, stinkhorns3-include these groups: mushrooms, puffballs, stinkhorns, bracket fungi3-include these groups: mushrooms, puffballs, stinkhorns, bracket fungi, earth stars others cause diseases for human like yeast Cryptococcus and parasite on plants , rusts disease , smuts disease many species eaten are poisonous or semi-poisonous species.

Fig. 31-18

Shelf fungi, important

decomposers of wood

Maiden veil fungus

(Dictyphora), a

fungus with an

odor like rotting

meat

Puffballs emitting

spores

• 4- The cell walls of the hyphae are variably composed of chitin and β-glucans.
• 5- Almost all its individuals are terrestrial , parasitic or saprophytic
• 6- The sexual spores produced are basidiospores that are typically borne, exogenously, on horn-like sterigmata (sing.=sterigma) of basidia (sing.= basidium) each basidium bear four basidiospores
• 7-reproducing A sexually by budding , fragmentation of hyphae to form Arthrospores(arthrospore. A spore resulting from the fragmentation of a hypha, as in the conidial stage of many Basidiomycota.) , conidia , urediospores

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Unicellular basidium, with four sterigmata and basidiospores.

Basidiospore and basidium

Basidiospore is sexual reproduction unit have a single haploid nucleus (1n) that is the product of meiosismeiosis, and they are produced by specialized fungal cells called basidia ( sexual structure , swollen at the top and carries on its surface four sterigmta each stergima bear one basidiospore therefore basidiomycota also is called club fungi .there are many types of basidia

. Holobasidium : Most basidiomycetes have single celled basidia ( consists from one cell non sepatate in different shapes .

Phragmobasidium A basidium multicellular that is divided into more than one cell by transverse or longitudinal septa.

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• Sexual sporulation in the basidiomycotina
• formation of basidiospores:
• two haploid nuclei in an apical dikaryotictwo haploid nuclei in an apical dikaryotic hyphal compartment (often within a basidiocarp) fuse to form a diploid nucleus.
• the diploid nucleus undergoes meiosis to produce four haploid nuclei.
• four small outgrowths - sterigmata - begin to form at the top of the hyphal compartment and the tip of each sterigma begins to inflate.
• the uninucleate swelling at the the tip of each sterigma matures into a basidiospore.
• the compartment supporting the sterigmata and basidiospores is called a basidium.

• Classification of fungi belonging to the Basidiomycota is based upon the presence or absence of fruiting bodies (BASIDIOCARPS) and the type of basidiocarp formed.
• Classification of fungi belonging to the Basidiomycota:
• 1. Teliomycetes
• basidiocarp (fruiting body) absent .
• The rust and smut fungi are two important of plant pathogenic fungi belonging to the Teliomycetes.
• 2. Hymenomycetes
• The largest class in the Basidiomycota.
• The basidia are arranged in a layer known as a HYMENIUM that is fully exposed at maturity.
• Basidiocarp is present (mushroom)
• 3. Gasteromycetes

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• 3. Gasteromycetes
• Includes fungi known as puff-balls, earth-stars and birds' nest fungi.
• The spore-producing hymenium is NOT EXPOSED at maturity.
• But these fungi have evolved a variety of mechanisms to ensure efficient spore liberation.

• Deutromycotina
• The division Deuteromycotina is also called the Fungi Imperfecti or Imperfect Fungi referring to our "imperfect" knowledge of their complete life cycles. The Deuteromycotina are characterized by
• 1- production of septate mycelium and/or yeasts,
• 2- sexual life cycle that is either unknown or absent.
• 3-Asexual reproduction is by means of conidia (sing.=conidium)
• 4-Where sexual reproduction has been determined for species in this taxon, the sexual stage is usually referrable to the Ascomycota or Basidiomycota.
• 5- when both sexual and asexual stages are known to occur in a life cycle, they are referred to as telomorph and anamorph, respectively.