Why was the mushroom invited to the party?
Because he was a fungi! Oh, biology. Why do you have to jerk me around so? First we do population genetics (which gives me oodles of joy) and then you throw fungi at me. Where did I go wrong? Anyway, if you do not enjoy the natural sciences - and if you do, but are not particularly fond of fungi- then I suggest you avert your eyes. For I am about to spew a whole heck of a lot of fungal knowledge, off the top of my head, without looking at my notes. Just to test myself and add crap in I know would not fly during the test. I like to be unconventional.
So we have to know the life-cycles of the three main phyla of fungi: zygomycota, basidiomycota and ascomycota. First, the zygomycota. So the fruiting bodies of zygomycota is where the hyphae are connected to. Basically on all our diagrams (which are branded into my mind, against my will, mind you) they look like poof balls with a long stem that grows down into hyphae. To begin the life-cycle, two hyphae come into contact with each other and fuse, going through plasmogomy. Plasmogomy is when the cell walls of two hyphae fuse together, leaving the two different nuclei separate and floating around inside, unless there are septa separating the hyphae into little chambers/segments. After undergoing plasmogomy, a structure called the zygosporangium is formed, which is a tough structure that contains the spores. It's pretty resilient since it holds, in essence, the babies of the zygomycota so it can withstand temperatures that are very cold or super hot as well as an environment that is very dry or very wet. Way to go, zygosporangium. Now, within the zygosporangium are a bunch of nuclei from the two different hyphae which then fuse - a process called karyogomy. Again, karyogomy is when the nuclei of hyphae fuse. Once they fuse, the nuclei go through meiosis and a sporangium grows out of the zygosporangium. The spores within the sporangium then goes through mitosis and grows into the adult fruiting body.
Next we have the basidiomycota, which are the stereotypical mushrooms we all have come to know and love in our spaghetti, on our pizza and even in our salad. The hyphae and reproductive parts for basidiomycetes are located beneath the umbrella-type thing, in the gills. The gills are covered with basidia, which are connected to hyphae. These basidia (Latin for "little pedestal" for the linguists out there) each produce four spores (through karyogamy), which they disperse. These four spores then germinate to form a new hyphae. This hyphae grows up in a sheltered home, has a nice childhood and likes to think he's unique. He gets fed up with his parental unit, gets into his car and, blasting Metallica, leaves home to make his mark on the world. One day, this hyphae suddenly meets another hyphae of a different mating type. An angelic chorus sings. They catch each other's eye and make contact. It's true love. They then go through plasmogmy and fuse together. They then turn into a heterokaryotic mycelium that continues to grow and forms the fruiting body - a mushroom. Romantic comedy material. In nature.
Finally we have the weirdos of the fungal world - the ascomycetes. They are conventionally known as 'cup fungi' because they (go figure!) are in the shape of a little bowlcupmajiggerthings. Along the walls of these fungul cups are teeny-tiny little sacs, called asci. These sacs begin with two nuclei (from different hyphae) which fuse through karyogamy. The fused nuclei then undergoes meiosis to form four little spores. These four spores, since they're antsy little fellers, then divide via mitosis to form eight spores. The little asci then bursts, dispersing her little kiddies out into the big blue yonder. These spores germinate and forms a new hyphae, which undergoes mitosis before a lovely hyphae of a different mating type catches his eye. Again, must be love at first sight. He inches towards her, tentatively making contact. Will she love him back? Yes! They make contact and the two hyphae fuse. On each of the two hyphae a structure containing many nuclei is formed. The two then undergo plasmogamy which creates a heterokaryotic mycelium which in turn goes through mitosis to grow big and strong into the adult fruiting body.
Ha! MacBook does not even know what to do with all those biological terms, so he puts red squigglies under all my science-y type words. But they are all correct. HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES, MACBOOK? Don't even act like those words aren't real! SCIENCE is FACT. Except when it's NOT.
If anyone actually read this, kudos.
So we have to know the life-cycles of the three main phyla of fungi: zygomycota, basidiomycota and ascomycota. First, the zygomycota. So the fruiting bodies of zygomycota is where the hyphae are connected to. Basically on all our diagrams (which are branded into my mind, against my will, mind you) they look like poof balls with a long stem that grows down into hyphae. To begin the life-cycle, two hyphae come into contact with each other and fuse, going through plasmogomy. Plasmogomy is when the cell walls of two hyphae fuse together, leaving the two different nuclei separate and floating around inside, unless there are septa separating the hyphae into little chambers/segments. After undergoing plasmogomy, a structure called the zygosporangium is formed, which is a tough structure that contains the spores. It's pretty resilient since it holds, in essence, the babies of the zygomycota so it can withstand temperatures that are very cold or super hot as well as an environment that is very dry or very wet. Way to go, zygosporangium. Now, within the zygosporangium are a bunch of nuclei from the two different hyphae which then fuse - a process called karyogomy. Again, karyogomy is when the nuclei of hyphae fuse. Once they fuse, the nuclei go through meiosis and a sporangium grows out of the zygosporangium. The spores within the sporangium then goes through mitosis and grows into the adult fruiting body.
Next we have the basidiomycota, which are the stereotypical mushrooms we all have come to know and love in our spaghetti, on our pizza and even in our salad. The hyphae and reproductive parts for basidiomycetes are located beneath the umbrella-type thing, in the gills. The gills are covered with basidia, which are connected to hyphae. These basidia (Latin for "little pedestal" for the linguists out there) each produce four spores (through karyogamy), which they disperse. These four spores then germinate to form a new hyphae. This hyphae grows up in a sheltered home, has a nice childhood and likes to think he's unique. He gets fed up with his parental unit, gets into his car and, blasting Metallica, leaves home to make his mark on the world. One day, this hyphae suddenly meets another hyphae of a different mating type. An angelic chorus sings. They catch each other's eye and make contact. It's true love. They then go through plasmogmy and fuse together. They then turn into a heterokaryotic mycelium that continues to grow and forms the fruiting body - a mushroom. Romantic comedy material. In nature.
Finally we have the weirdos of the fungal world - the ascomycetes. They are conventionally known as 'cup fungi' because they (go figure!) are in the shape of a little bowlcupmajiggerthings. Along the walls of these fungul cups are teeny-tiny little sacs, called asci. These sacs begin with two nuclei (from different hyphae) which fuse through karyogamy. The fused nuclei then undergoes meiosis to form four little spores. These four spores, since they're antsy little fellers, then divide via mitosis to form eight spores. The little asci then bursts, dispersing her little kiddies out into the big blue yonder. These spores germinate and forms a new hyphae, which undergoes mitosis before a lovely hyphae of a different mating type catches his eye. Again, must be love at first sight. He inches towards her, tentatively making contact. Will she love him back? Yes! They make contact and the two hyphae fuse. On each of the two hyphae a structure containing many nuclei is formed. The two then undergo plasmogamy which creates a heterokaryotic mycelium which in turn goes through mitosis to grow big and strong into the adult fruiting body.
Ha! MacBook does not even know what to do with all those biological terms, so he puts red squigglies under all my science-y type words. But they are all correct. HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES, MACBOOK? Don't even act like those words aren't real! SCIENCE is FACT. Except when it's NOT.
If anyone actually read this, kudos.