Basidiomycota

12 Key excerpts on "Basidiomycota"

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  eBook - ePub

  Fossil Fungi

  • Thomas N Taylor, Michael Krings, Edith L. Taylor(Authors)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • Academic Press

    (Publisher)

  2007 ; Kemler et al. 2009). Together with the Ascomycota, they comprise the subkingdom Dikarya (=higher fungi) within the kingdom Fungi (Figure 9.1). It is estimated that approximately 37% of the described fungi belong to the Basidiomycota. The diversity of cellular constructions in hyphal systems and basidiocarps is the expression of a long evolutionary history for the group. Basidiomycota today are important contributors to multiple levels of ecosystem functioning and have developed substrate dependencies of enormous ecological importance, especially in forest ecosystems (Oberwinkler, 2012). For example, they are effective in litter degradation and as degraders of different components in wood, including lignin (e.g. Tanesaka et al., 1993 ; Adl, 2003). The ability to remove lignin from plant materials, a key process for carbon recycling in forest ecosystems, is in fact mainly found in Basidiomycota (e.g. Peláez et al., 1995). Moreover, basidiomycetes represent an important food source for certain animals (fungivory), especially insects (e.g. Schigel, 2012). The macroscopic basidiocarps are particular rich in carbohydrates (structural polysaccharides) and proteins, including all the amino acids necessary for insect development and growth (Lundgren, 2009). Many basidiomycetes are parasites and causative agents of diseases in plants, while others produce a number of biochemical compounds that can be either beneficial or toxic to animals and humans. Some forms enter into mutualistic associations with a variety of other organisms; distinctive among these are ectomycorrhizae (e.g. Bonfante and Genre, 2008 ; Rinaldi et al., 2008), and symbioses with liverworts (e.g. Kottke et al., 2003), lichen symbioses (e.g. Lawrey et al., 2007), and fungus-farming (fungiculture) by ants and termites (e.g. Chapela et al., 1994 ; Mueller et al., 2005)

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  eBook - ePub

  Handbook of Microbiology

  Condensed Edition

  • Allen I Laskin(Author)
  • 2019(Publication Date)
  • CRC Press

    (Publisher)

  The Basidiomycetes Mary P. Lechevalier

  Basidiomycetes, the most evolved class of fungi, are characterized by the formation of basidiospores on the outside of spore-bearing structures known as basidia (Figure 1 ). Such organisms as rusts, smuts, and jelly fungi, as well as mushrooms, puffballs, shelf and coral fungi, stinkhorns, earthstars, and birds-nest fungi, are basidiomycetes. Morphologically fascinating, some are the delight of gastronomists, others the despair of farmers, nurserymen, foresters and industrialists. As plant parasites (rusts, smuts, and higher forms), as destroyers of lumber and wooden structures, they cause an untold amount of destruction. At the same time, such organisms serve a useful purpose in the degradation of vegetable matter, besides providing food for mushroom fanciers.

  Basidiospores are usually uninucleate and haploid and are usually borne on sterigmata (Figure 1 , A, b). The mycelium is uninucleate to begin with, then becomes binucleate through plasmogamy, with karyogamy and meiosis occurring only in the basidium. Clamp connections (Figure 1 , A, d), characteristic of the mycelium of many basidiomycetes, play a role in the production of the binucleate condition. The vast majority of basidiomycetes are heterothallic. The sexual compatibility of such organisms depends not on the differentiation of distinct sexual forms but on ”incompatibility factors.” These factors regulate both the recognition of a potential mate by a given strain as well as subsequent morphogenesis.1 The fruiting bodies (basidiocarps), except for those of most rusts and smuts, are quite complex; they may be open or closed, varying in shape and size from exceedingly tiny to approximately 100 cm.2 The cell walls of the basidiomycetes that have been examined are of the chitin-glucan type; L-fucose is also found in the wall.3

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  Handbook of Soil Sciences

  Properties and Processes, Second Edition

  • Pan Ming Huang, Yuncong Li, Malcolm E. Sumner, Pan Ming Huang, Yuncong Li, Malcolm E. Sumner(Authors)
  • 2011(Publication Date)
  • CRC Press

    (Publisher)

  Finally, great progress has been made in the extraction and sequencing of fungal DNA, enabling the rapid and certain identification—at least at the phylum level—of an unknown strain by comparison with avail-able sequences of known strains (e.g., Bruns et al., 1991; Marek et al., 2009). 24.3.2.8 Kingdom Fungi, Phylum Basidiomycota (Including Some Yeasts and Some Asexual Forms Previously Included in the “Deuteromycetes”) The Basidiomycota include two of the most important groups of soil fungi: species forming ectomycorrhizae of forest trees (Smith and Read, 2008; Section 24.4), and species that are the dominant decay organisms of plant polymers such as lignin, hemicellulose, and cellulose (Rayner and Boddy, 1988; Boddy et al., 2007). A few basidiomycetes, such as Rhizoctonia solani , are very important plant pathogens of field and forage crops ranging from wheat to rice to alfalfa. Others are root pathogens of tropical tree crops such as rubber and oil palms, or are root pathogens or cause rot and butt rots of tropical and temperate forest trees and turf (Ploetz et al., 1994; Roberts, 1999; Smiley et al., 2005). The Ascomycota and their asexual relatives are usu-ally thought to be the major group of soil fungi, both in num-ber of species and in biomass. This may be true in agricultural soils and in native tropical soils, but in many temperate and boreal forest soils, the basidiomycetes probably outnumber and outweigh the ascomycetes in at least the organic-rich soil hori-zons (Frankland, 1982; Entry et al., 1992). Many form extensive mycelia with considerable biomass. The most famous of these is Armillaria , the “humongous fungus” of which one individual mycelium was calculated to occupy 15 ha and have a weight of 10 Mg (Smith et al., 1992); another individual Armillaria thought to occupy 40 ha has been reported (Shaw and Roth, 1976).

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  Fungal Biology

  • J. W. Deacon(Author)
  • 2009(Publication Date)
  • Wiley-Blackwell

    (Publisher)

  Many other ascomycetous fungi degrade cellulose and other structural polymers; e.g. Chaetomium in soil and composts, Xylaria and Hypoxylon as agents of wood decay, Sordaria and Ascobolus in herbivore dung, and Lulworthia on wood in estuarine environments (Chapter 11). Basidiomycota According to Kirk et al. (2001), the Basidiomycota con- tains about 30,000 described species, which is 37% of the described species of true fungi. Although the most familiar examples of this group are the mushrooms and toadstools, there is an enormous diversity of species, including basidiomycetous yeasts, many important plant pathogens, and some serious human pathogens. The one single feature that characterizes the group is the basidium in which meiosis occurs, leading to the production of sexual spores (basidiospores) that usu- ally are produced externally on short stalks termed sterigmata (Fig. 2.19). Several other features are found in the Basidiomycota. The hyphae often have a complex dolipore septum (Chapter 3) that prevents nuclei from moving between different hyphal compart- ments. The cell wall typically is composed of chitin and glucans (but chitin and mannans in the yeast forms). The nuclei typically are haploid, but throughout most of the life of a colony each hyphal compartment contains two nuclei, representing two different mating compatibility groups. A mycelium of this type is termed a dikaryon. The significance of this will be explained shortly. Taxonomy and relationships The Basidiomycota is a monophyletic group (all of its members having a common ancestry) and is a sister group to the Ascomycota. In other words, both of these groups have a common ancestor. Three major sub-groups are recognized within the Phylum Basidiomycota: 1 Urediniomycetes, including the rust fungi (Uredinales) which are economically significant plant pathogens of many crops and wild plants.

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  Wood Microbiology

  Decay and Its Prevention

  • Robert A. Zabel, Jeffrey J. Morrell(Authors)
  • 2020(Publication Date)
  • Academic Press

    (Publisher)

  Adapted from Figure 4.8, E. Moore-Landecker (1980), Fundamentals of Fungi with permission of Prentice-Hall, Inc. Drawings courtesy George Chamuris.

  Sexual spores formed externally on the tip of a swollen club-shaped hypha, termed a basidium , are called basidiospores and characterize the class of fungi known as the Basidiomycota (Fig. 3.8 ). This class of fungi contains most of the important wood-destroying fungi, and also contains the rusts and smuts, which are major plant pathogens worldwide. There are three sub-phylla: the Pucciniomycotina, the Ustilagomycotina and the Agaricomycotina. The former two sub-phylla represent the rusts and smuts, while the latter group contains most of the wood decay fungi.

  Figure 3.8 The developmental stages of the basidium in the Agaricomycetes of the Basidiomycota. (A) The developmental stages of a typical basidium, (B) The development of basidia in a representative zone of the hymenium.

  (A) Adapted from Smith, A.H., 1934. Mycologia 26, 305–331 with permission of the New York Botanical Garden. (B) from Corner, E.J.H., 1950. Ann. Botan. Mem. 1, 1–74, with permission of Oxford University Press. Drawings courtesy of Dr. George Chamuris.

  Life cycles

  Information on the life cycles of the major Phyla of fungi that attack wood is necessary to understand the nature and great benefits of genetic diversity to fungi. Genetic diversity permits rapid adjustments through selection to new conditions. There are enormous differences in the patterns of sexuality, sexual mechanisms, and the life cycles of the fungi (Raper, 1966 ). More detailed information is available in the various textbooks on mycology. (e.g. Webster and Weber, 2007 ; Talbot, 1971 ; Alexopolous et al., 1996 ; Snyder, 2019 ). Only a few highlights of the topic are presented here. Sexual reproduction is an effective means of developing genetic diversity that occurs in all fungal classes except the fungi that currently have only an asexual state. Sexuality basically involves the union of gamete protoplasts (plasmogamy) and fusion (karyogamy) of two nuclei (n) to form a diploid nucleus (2 n). The diploid nuclei divides by meiosis and crossing over or exchange of genetic material among the paired or homologous chromosomes can occur. Subsequent mitotic divisions then maintain and multiply the new genotypic arrangement. In contrast, only mitotic divisions occur in asexual reproduction and there is less chance for genetic diversity. In some cases, high reproductive potential coupled with a high frequency for errors or mutations during mitosis can overcome the limitations presented by the absence of a sexual stage. The life cycle of a typical wood-decaying fungus (Agaricomycetes) can be described in steps as follows (Fig. 3.9

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  Current Developments in Biotechnology and Bioengineering

  Filamentous Fungi Biorefinery

  • Mohammad Taherzadeh, Jorge Ferreira, Ashok Pandey(Authors)
  • 2022(Publication Date)
  • Elsevier

    (Publisher)

  A unique character of the Ascomycota (but not present in all ascomycetes) is the presence of membrane bound structure with a crystaline protein matrix called Woronin bodies on each side of the septa. Asexual reproduction produces mitospores or vegetative reproductive spores called the conidiospores.

  3.12.2: Basidiomycota

  Why did the mushroom come to the party? because he's a fungi!

  Derived from the Latin word -basis (means base, support) plus -idium, refers to the basidium, a “little pedestal,” on which the basidiospores develop. The most pronounced difference between the ascomycota and Basidiomycota is the extended dikaryotic phase of some of the basiomycota.

  Similar to ascomycota the name Basidiomycota was adapted by Hibbet et al., as well as in Ainsworth & Bisby's Dictionary of the Fungi, and the GenBank taxonomy (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/guide/taxonomy ) (Hibbett et al., 2007 ; Kirk et al., 2008 ). Three major subdivision, Pucciniomycotina (rusts—Pucciniales and relatives), Ustilaginomycotina (smuts—Ustilaginales and relatives), and Agaricomycotina which includes mushrooms Agaricomycetes, jelly fungi (Auriculariales, Dacrymycetales, Tremellales) and others have been allotted under this and is strongly supported by phylogenetic analyses of multilocus molecular data (James et al., 2006b ). Genome-based datasets strongly support the monophyletic descend of Basidomycota which was also corroborated in an analysis of nonmolecular characters by Zhao et al. (2017) and Nagy et al. (2016) . In gist Basidiomycota is form of extended, free-living dikaryotic mycelium where the production of meiospores on basidia is putative synapomorphies.

  General characteristic features of Basidomycota.

  1. 1.  
     Basidiomycota reproduces sexually via the formation of specialized club-shaped end cells called basidia that normally bear external meiospores (usually four). These specialized spores are called basidiospores borne on distinctive basidiocarps or basidioma.
  2. 2.  The basidiospores are the dispersive spores and they are forced out by hydrostatic pressure between the sterigma and the basidiospore on the basidium. In these cases, they are called ballistospores.

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  Plant Bacteriology

  • Wezelman, T(Authors)
  • 2018(Publication Date)
  • Agri Horti Press

    (Publisher)

  • One of the most important characteristics of Basidiomycotina is the production of forcibly discharged ballistospores which are propelled into the air from the sterigma. This ebook is exclusively for this university only. Cannot be resold/distributed. 63 Mycology • Ballistospores are sexual or asexual, and produced by basidia, hyphae, yeast cells, or even other ballistospores. • This type of spore discharge have been evolved very early in the evolutionary history of the Basidiomycotina as it is found in members of the earliest diverging lineages within the group. • Ballistospory is associated with forms that disperse their spores directly into the air. Most aquatic Basidiomycotina and forms that produce spores inside the fruiting body, such as puffballs, have lost ballistospory. • Basidiocarps is generally divided into three parts: • Hymenium - The typical hymenium consists of parallel arranged fertile elements: young basidia (basidioles), basidiospore forming basidia in various stages of developement and also sterile elements (cystidia). • Subhymenium – Below the hymenium a layer of isodiametric cells is present which is the subhymenium • Trama – The layer on which the subhymenium and the hymenium is found to be located is the trama. The trama is the main hyphal structure within the hymenophore (hymenophoral trama) and within the whole fruit body. Deuteromycotina (Fungi Imperfecti) • The Deuteromycota are characterized by a well-developed, septate mycelium, some are siphonaceous. • Cell walls: Usually chitin and glucan. • Asexual reproduction is by means of conidia (sing.=conidium) or may be lacking. • Sexual reproduction is not known; thus these are the imperfect Fungi. • This includes unrelated fungi from the Ascomycotina, Basidiomycotina and even the Zygomycotina. Members of different fungal division may produce conidial states which are morphologically very similar and classified in the same genus.

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  Mushrooms

  Cultivation, Nutritional Value, Medicinal Effect, and Environmental Impact

  • Philip G. Miles, Shu-Ting Chang(Authors)
  • 2004(Publication Date)
  • CRC Press

    (Publisher)

  4 Overview of the Biology of Fungi

  I. INTRODUCTION

  Before beginning a consideration of special topics dealing with edible mushrooms and their cultivation, one should have a basic understanding of the biology of fungi in general. Those readers who already have such an understanding may skim through this chapter, pausing only long enough to become familiar with the terminology that we have elected to use. Readers who have never had formal instruction in a course in mycology (the study of the fungi) or read carefully in mycological textbooks covering classification (taxonomy), structure (morphology), function (physiology), inheritance (genetics), as well as the multitudinous and often complex patterns of reproduction exhibited by fungi, will find that reading this section makes for an easier comprehension and appreciation of all that follows.

  II. THE FUNGI

  A. DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS

  What are the fungi? This question can be answered in many ways, some of which are more meaningful than others to individuals of various backgrounds and having different interests. They are the yeasts used in the making of beer and wine because of their fermentative activities, and the molds that are used for the commercial production of citric and other organic acids, and for the production of penicillin as well as the flavoring of many cheeses. They are causal agents of most of the diseases of plants and many diseases of humans. Several fungi are responsible for destruction of food in transit or storage and manufactured goods made of many different substances, but especially wood. Last, but not least, the fungi are important as a source of food.

  It is not surprising that the fungi affect us in so many ways because they constitute a fairly large group of organisms. Some 69,000 species of fungi have been described, and estimates indicate that approximately 1.5 million species exist.

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  Ecology of Saprotrophic Basidiomycetes

  • Lynne Boddy, Juliet Frankland, Pieter van West(Authors)
  • 2007(Publication Date)
  • Academic Press

    (Publisher)

  Basidiomycota are frequently the dominant decomposer organisms and are thus critical in nutrient cycling in ecosystems. These fungi can also cause significant economic damage as pathogens and decomposers of buildings, other human artefacts and food stuff, by virtue of their ability to utilise cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. Their mycelial habit and the production of aggregated mycelial structures—cords and rhizomorphs, allow them to forage for and colonise heterogeneously distributed bulky resources (Chapter 1). Saprotrophic Basidiomycota are exposed during these processes to a range of fluctuating environmental conditions, especially of water availability, temperature, pH and gaseous regime. These factors individually, and interacting, have an impact on the ability to grow, colonise different lignocellulosic matrices, produce the nec-essary enzymes for decomposition and to be competitive. This chapter considers the impact of abiotic factors, especially temperature and water availability, on the activity of saprotrophic Basidiomycota, their mechanisms of tolerance and ability to produce the necessary enzymes which enable them to be such important components of decomposition processes and nutrient recycling. Examples are chosen from temperate and tropical species in natural ecosystems, as well as cultivated species such as A. bisporus and Pleurotus spp. 2. EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE AND WATER AVAILABILITY ON GROWTH 2.1 Temperature and Growth Temperature is a major determinant of ecological niche (Hudson, 1986; Magan, 1997). It exerts an influence on fungi largely via its effects on enzyme-catalysed reactions. The overall response of a fungus to different temperatures represents the combined effect of numerous different chemical reactions, each of which exhibits its own characteristic relationship to temperature (Rayner and Boddy, 1988).

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  The Handy Biology Answer Book

  • Patricia Barnes-Svarney, Thomas E. Svarney(Authors)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • Visible Ink Press

    (Publisher)

  Classifying fungi is not an easy task—especially because of the number of different species, findings thanks to DNA sequencing, and new methods used by scientists to study the fungi. The following lists two of the most recent classifications, both based on (as most fungi classifications) the reproductive spore a fungus produces. And although both these lists will no doubt change as more studies are made, these are the terms you would see when exploring the world of fungi (for example, in 2011, a potentially new phyla—Cryptomycota—was suggested).

  One classification system developed in 2007 has four main groups (phyla): Ascomycota (sac fungi, with spores called ascospores), Basidiomycota (club fungi, with spores called basiodiospores), Chytridiomycota, and Zygomycota (bread molds, with spores called zygospores); a few years later, a group was taken out of the Zygomycota and named the phyla Glomeromycota, and the phyla Microspordia was also named. In yet another classification, fungi are divided into about ten phyla—the same names, but new phyla added: Chytridiomycota, Monoblepharidiomycota, Neocallimastigomycota, Blastocladiomycota, Microsporida, Zygomycota 1, Zygomycota 2, Endomophthorales, Glomeromycota, Ascomycota, and Basidiomycota. Of all the phyla in this classification, the Ascomycota have the most species (around 64,163 species); next in line are the Basidiomycota (with 31,515 species), then Micorspordia (with 1,300 species). The lowest number of species is in the phyla Neocallimastigomycota (with twenty species).

  What are deuteromycetes—“imperfect fungi”—mentioned in many fungi classifications?

  In many classifications, if the reproductive, sexual spore of a fungus species has not been identified or examined, that fungus is placed in the phyla Deuteromycota. Imperfect fungi are also called deuteromycetes or conidial fungi. They are a collection of distinct fungal species known to reproduce only asexually; the reason for this special listing is that, to date, the sexual reproductive features—or even sexual reproduction—has not been seen in any of these fungi. Most imperfect fungi are thought to be ascomycetes that have lost the ability to reproduce sexually. Deuteromycetes are mostly free-living and terrestrial, but some are pathogenic—those fungi that affect humans and other animals. For example, pathogenic deuteromycetes include athlete’s foot (Epidermophyton floccosum ) and ringworm (Microsporum canis ). On the positive side, other famous deuteromycetes include Penicillium roquefortii and Penicillium camemberti

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  Taxonomic Guide to Infectious Diseases

  Understanding the Biologic Classes of Pathogenic Organisms

  • Jules J. Berman(Author)
  • 2019(Publication Date)
  • Academic Press

    (Publisher)

  Chapter 6

  Fungi

  Abstract

  Fungi are multicellular organisms that, like all animals, are descendants of Class Opisthokonta. There are many thousands of different fungi that share our environment, and we are constantly being exposed to fungi in the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink. Fortunately for us, there are only a small number of fungi that produce serious infections in healthy individuals. Contrariwise, there are a great number of fungi that can produce infections in immunodeficient humans and in humans with genetic variants that promote susceptibility to specific fungal organisms. Consequently, the number of potentially pathogenic fungi is large. As our diagnostic acumen has improved, the number of documented fungal pathogens has grown. The best way to understand the different fungal infections, and to anticipate the occurrence of new types of infection, is to study the biology of the major classes of pathogenic fungi.

  Keywords

  Fungi; Conidia; Basidiomycotes; Ascomycotes; Microsporidia; Dimorphic fungi; Yeasts

  Section 6.1 Overview of Class Fungi

  Definition of a lexicographer: “harmless drudge.” Samuel Johnson

  Eukaryota Bikonta, 2-flagella Unikonta, 1-flagellum Amoebozoa Opisthokonta Choanozoa Animalia Fungi Zygomycota Dikarya Basidiomycota Ascomycota Microsporidia

  In the past decade, Class Fungi has become the most intellectually frustrating branch of clinical microbiology. There are many reasons why mycology (the study of fungi) has become so very difficult, but two reasons seem to dominate.

  • –1.  
    Number of offending organisms. Approximately 54 fungi account for the vast majority of fungal infections, but the actual number of fungi that are pathogenic to humans is much higher. To provide some idea of the ubiquitous nature of fungi, it is estimated that, on average, humans inhale about 40 conidia (asexual fungal propagative spores) each hour. Most of these organisms are nonpathogenic under normal circumstances. However, in the case of immune-compromised patients, or in the case of patients who provide a specific opportunity for ambient fungi to attach and grow within a body (e.g., an indwelling vascular line), an otherwise harmless fungus may produce a life-threatening illness. As the number of immune-compromised patients increases, due to transplants, AIDS, cancer treatment, long-term steroid use; and with the proliferation of medical devices that provide potential entry points for fungi, the number of newly recognized fungal pathogens will increase. It is estimated that there are about 20 new fungal diseases reported each year [1]

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  Introduction to Fungi

  • Davis, Z(Authors)
  • 2021(Publication Date)
  • Agri Horti Press

    (Publisher)

  Phylogenetic placement of one of the most problematic species, Basidiobolus ranarum , is uncertain, but a recent phylogenetic analysis using RPB1 sequence data suggests that it is nested within the Zygomycota. However, this species appears to be distinct from the Entomophthorales with which it has been classified traditionally. Although B. ranarum possesses many of the features of other entomophthoralean species, such as forcibly discharged spores, morphologically similar zygospores, and symbiotic associations with insects, this species does not appear to group with other Entomophthorales in molecular phylogenetic studies using SSU rDNA sequences. Basidiobolus spp. possess centriole-like nuclear-associated organelles, however, only members of the Chytridiomycota, the only flagellated true Fungi, possess functional centrioles. Though controversial, congruent evidence from alpha- and beta-tubulin gene phylogenies support a zygomycete origin of the microsporidia, a group of highly reduced obligate intracellular parasites of a wide variety of animals including humans. Because several microsporidian species have emerged as major pathogens of immuno-compromised patients over the past two decades, this enigmatic group has received considerable attention recently by the scientific community. Placement of the microsporidia, however, remains controversial. Toxicoses and Poisonous Fungi Besides ergot ( Claviceps purpurea ), certain other fungi are known to produce substances toxic to animals. One group This ebook is exclusively for this university only. Cannot be resold/distributed. 34 Introduction to Fungi of toxicoses is due to the ingestion of food damaged by the growth of moulds and another is due to eating toxin-containing fruit-bodies of larger fungi. A variety of symptoms are exhibited by the affected animals but internal haemorrhage, nervous disturbance, vomiting and hyperkeratosis are the most frequently reported, and occasionally sudden death.

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