AgriMyc

Club fungi

Introduction

Club fungi (Basidiomycota) are filamentous fungi, which include most macroscopic fungi, which in everyday speech are called mushrooms (e.g. chanterelles, boletes  trumpet mushrooms, etc.). About 16,000 species have been described in the phylum Basidiomycota. For instance, rust and smut fungi (Class Pucciniomycetes and Class Ustilaginomycetes, respectively), which belong to the club fungi, parasitize cereal crops and cause huge crop losses every year.

Sexual reproduction

Club fungi have club-like organs (single- or multicellular), called basidia. The word basidium comes from the Greek base, meaning pedestal. Basidia produce sexual meiospores (haploid spores, which are formed by meiosis), which are called basidiospores. Basidia are microscopic and are formed by the terminal cell of the hyphae. 

Asexual reproduction

Certain species of club mushrooms can also multiply asexually by budding.

Updated: 2022-03-24.