#phylum round two

[battle-of-the-taxons]

PHYLA: ROUND TWO

Blastocladiomycota vs Zoopagomycota

Blastocladiomycota

Zoopagomycota

Voting ended onFeb 7, 2024

Propaganda under here:

BLASTOCLADIOMYCOTA

Most fungi are distinctly aerobic (relying on oxygen to survive), however the blastoclads can turn to anaerobic methods in low oxygen environments. They are saprotrophs and parasites of other fungi, plants and invertebrates. Female gametes produce a chemical called Sirenin, and male gametes are up to Twenty Million times more responsive to this pheromone than nutrients.

ZOOPAGOMYCOTA

Mainly parasitic with smaller animals, but can also be parasitic/ a pathogen towards humans and other fungi. This group contains the genus Entomophthora, which infects flies and other two winged insects and takes control of the brain to spread spores. This Phylum was previously known as Zygomycota, which included Mucoromycota as well. It is hard to perform DNA analysis on Zoopagomycota specimens as they are often found in dead hosts, so determining which species the DNA came from can be tough.

[battle-of-the-taxons]

PHYLA: ROUND TWO

Olpidiomycota vs Microsporidia

Olpidiomycota

Microsporidia

Voting ended onFeb 7, 2024

Propaganda under here:

OLPIDIOMYCOTA

A phylum with a single class, these fungi are also zoosporic, which means their spores are flagellated and capable of movement. Members of Olpidiomycota are pathogens, and can even serve as vectors for plant viruses. Once the hosts are infected, the fungi create spherical zoosporangia, the structure that produces more zoospores, inside their host's cells. These fungi are found in both terrestrial and aquatic environments alike and are still somewhat mysterious to science.

MICROSPORIDIA

Microsporidia were originally thought to be protists. They are found pretty much in every environment and are mainly parasitic to insects, fish and crustaceans. They enter their host cells via a "polar tube", an organelle that allows the spores of Microsporidia to pierce the cell membrane of the host and insert the spore's own innards into the host. Otherwise they are quite reduced, they even lack mitochondria and other organelles! As they are pathogens of many insects, there is research being done into whether they can be used as a potential way to control malaria and pest insects.

[battle-of-the-taxons]

PHYLA: ROUND TWO

Basidiomycota vs Cryptomycota

Basidiomycota

Cryptomycota

Voting ended onFeb 7, 2024

Propaganda under here:

BASIDIOMYCOTA

These are one of the main groups of fungi that everyone knows! They're best identified by their fruiting bodies, on which their microscopic spore-producing structures, basidia, rest on. Basidiomycota makes up 1/3 of all fungi with 32 000 described species, and they're both terrestrial and aquatic! Some fungi in this group can be mutualistic with insects, some contribute to rot and degredation of lignin in wood, and some (P. ostreatus) are carnivourous and eat nematodes! And most importantly, many are edible or have medicinal qualities.

CRYPTOMYCOTA

Cryptomycota (also known as Rozellomycota) are a very understudied group of fungi. They are likely to be one of the first emerging fungi groups, and lack a chitin cell wall which is a common fungi trait. This allows them to be parasitic within cells (largely other fungi). They infect cells by attaching to hosts and hardening on the outside, inserting an "infection tube" into the host, and squeezing their innards through! They feed on the cell's cytoplasm and eventually fill it completely. They are found in soil, both terrestrial and aquatic.

[battle-of-the-taxons]

PHYLA: ROUND TWO

Aphelidiomycota vs Ascomycota

Aphelidiomycota

Ascomycota

Voting ended onFeb 7, 2024

Propaganda under here:

APHELIDIOMYCOTA

Some species of this group were already discovered 130 years ago, but its phylum status is relatively new! Members of Aphelidiomycota are parasitoids of algae and diatoms, living inside their cells and eventually killing and consuming them. They're found in both marine and freshwater environments. The members of this phylum are also one of the earlier fungi to emerge.

ASCOMYCOTA

The most species rich of all the phyla, species number estimates are anywhere from 30 000 to even 110 000. Many multicellular members of Ascomycota, or sac fungi, are best identified via their fruiting bodies on which microscopic spore-bearing cells called asci rest (though some reproduce asexually instead). They can be unicellular or form large complex structures, and fill all sorts of niches, ranging from mutualists to pathogens to decomposers. Most well-known sac fungi include most species of lichen, the common yeast, truffles and cordyceps.

[battle-of-the-taxons]

ROUND TWO IS OVER!

Congratulations Olpidiomycota, Basidiomycota, Zoopagomycota and Ascomycota for making it through to the third round, the semi-finals! Who will make it to the final round, the round we find out which phyla will determine our classes? Let's see! >:D