Classification of Fungi

Classification of Fungi by Gilbert Smith (1955).

From Alexopoulos Textbook.

Fungi
Division

Myxomycophyta Eumycophyta
Myxomycetes Phycomycetes (Algae fungi)
Plasmodiophoromycetes Mastigomycetes
Acrasiomycetes Zygomycetes
Ascomycetes (Sac fungi)
Basidiomycetes (Club fungi)
Deuteromycetes (Imperfecti fungi)

 Fungi are eukaryotic microorganisms. They can occur as yeasts, molds,

or as a combination of both forms.
 Some fungi are capable of causing superficial, cutaneous, subcutaneous,
systemic or allergic diseases.
 Yeasts are microscopic fungi consisting of solitary cells that reproduce
by budding. Molds, in contrast, occur in long filaments known as
hyphae, which grow by apical extension.
 Regardless of their shape or size, fungi are all heterotrophic and digest
their food externally by releasing hydrolytic enzymes into their
immediate surroundings (absorptive nutrition).
 Other characteristics of fungi are the ability to synthesize lysine by the
L-α-adipic acid biosynthetic pathway and possession of a chitinous cell
wall, plasma membranes containing the sterol ergosterol, 80S rRNA, and
microtubules composed of tubulin.
Classification of Fungi
 The classification of fungi, like that of bacteria, is designed mainly for
practical application but it also bears some relation to phylogenetic
considerations.
 The nomenclature is binomial, with a generic and a specific name
(eg: Aspergillus niger).
 Species are collected in genera, genera in families (suffix –aceae),
families in orders (suffix-ales), and orders in classes (suffix-mycetes).
 The division of mycota, or fungi and moulds, includes the true
slime moulds (Myxomycetes), the lower fungi (Phycomycetes), and the
higher fungi (Eumycetes).
 Alexopolous and Mims proposed fungal classification in 1979. They
place the fungi including the slime molds in the kingdom mycetae of
the super kingdom Eukaryota which, in addition, includes four other
kingdoms.
 They divide the kingdom mycetae into three divisions namely:
1. Gymnomycota
2. Mastigomycota and
3. Amastigomycota
  The division is subdivided into subdivision, classes, sub-classes, and
orders.
Division I Gymnomycota
 It includes phagotrophic organism devoid of cell walls.
 This division comprises two subdivisions.
 These are Acrasiogymnomycotina and Plasmodiogynomycotina.
Subdivision 1. Acrasiogymnomycotina
It includes a single class Acrasiomycetes.
Class 1. Acrasiomycetes  
 Lacks flagellated cells except for one species. The class comprises two
subclasses.
 Acrasiomycetidae and Dictyosteliomycetidae.
Subdivision 2. Plasmodiogymnomycotina
It is divided into two classes:
Class 1 Protosteliomycetes
Class 2 Mycomycetes
It includes the true slime mold and comprises three sub class namely:
Sub class 1. Ceratiomyxomycomycetidae
Order – Ceratiomyxales
Sub Class 2. Mycogasteomycetidae
 It comprise four orders.
Order
1. Liceales
2. Echinosteleales
3. Trichlales
4. Physarales
Sub Class 3. Stemonitomycetidae
Order 1. Stemonitales
Division II Mastigomycota
 Includes fungi with absorptive nutrition, unicellular or filamentous,
mycelium coemocytic.
 It comprises two sub divisions:
Sub division 1 Haplomastigomycotina
 Includes fungi with uni-or, bi-flagellate zoospores.
Class 1 Chytridiomycetes– Fungi producing zoospores furnished with a single
whiplash flagellum inserted at the posterior end.
Class 2 Hyphochytridiomycetes- Motile cells with a single tinsel flagellum
inserted at the anterior end.
Class 3 Plasmodiophoromycetes- Parasitic fungi producing biflagellate
motile cells with both the flagella of whiplash type inserted at the anterior end.
Sub division 2. Diplomastigomycotima Sexual reproduction ooagamous,
zoospores biflagellate.
Class 1 Oomycetes
– It comprises four orders:
Order 1 Lagenidiales
Order 2 Saprolegnailes
Order 3. Leptomitales
Order 4. Peronosporales
Division III Amastigomycota
Fungi with absorptive nutrition, motile cells lacking, mycelium aseptate or
septate.
This includes four sub divisions:
Sub division 1 Zygomycotina
Class 1 Zygomycetes – it includes six orders.
Class 2 Trichomycetes – it comprises five orders.
Sub division 2 Ascomycotina
Fungi usually with a septate mycelium producing haploid ascospores in sac
like cells called asci.
Class 1 Ascomycetes- divided into five sub classes:
Sub class 1. Hemiascomycetidae- comprising three orders.
Sub class 2. Plectomycetidae- Five orders
Sub class 3. Hymenoascomycetidae – Ten orders
Sub class 4 Laboulbeniomycetidae – Two orders
Sub class 5 Lowloascomycetidae – five orders
Sub division 3. Basidiomycotina
Septate mycelium, produces basidiospores, exogenously on various types of
basidia.
Class 1 Basidiomycetes: it is split into 3 sub clases:
Sub class 1 Holobasidiomycetidae
Sub class 2 Phragmobasidiomycetidae
Sub class 3 Teliomycetidae
Sub division 4. Deuteromycotina
It includes imperfect fungi in which sexual stage is unknown. It comprises a
single form class.
Form Class Deuteromycetes with three form sub classes namely
Blastomycetidae, Coelomycetidae and Hyphomycetidae.
On the Basis of Spore Production
On the basis of the organisation of the vegetative thallus, the morphology of
reproductive structures, the way of spores production and particular life cycle
involved the kingdom mycota is classified into following divisions.
Phycomycetes
 It includes the simplest type of fungi. It is also called as Algae-Fungi
because most of the characteristics of them are similar to algae
like Vaucheria.
 They have simple thallus which is unicellular or coenocytic or aseptate
filaments.
 They reproduce asexually by the formation of zoospores or non-motile
spores.
 Sexual reproduction is isogamous or heterogamous which takes place
by gametangial contact.
 The diploid phase is represented by zygote.
 Phycomycetes has been classified into subclasses: oomycetes and
zygomycetes.
Oomycetes
 Oomycetes range from a primitive unicellular thallus to a profusely
branched filamentous mycelium.
 Many members of them are terrestrial and obligate parasites.
 Asexually they reproduce by biflagellate zoospores.
 Sexual reproduction is oogamy that involves the fusion of male and
female gametes to form oospore.
 Oospore undergoes meioses to produce haploid biflagellate zoospores.
 Example; Phytophthora infestans(causes potato blight)
Zygomycetes
 The group is named zygomycetes because a diploid resting spore called
the zygospore is formed during the life cycle.
 They are mostly saprophytic, some others are parasites on plants and
animals.
 The vegetative body is mycelium which is well developed, profusely
branched and coenocytic.
 The absence of motile sexual or asexual cells.
 The asexual reproduction takes place by
sporangiospores, aplanospores or by conidia.
 Sexual reproduction occurs by conjugation of gametangia resulting in
the formation of zygospore.
 Examples; Rhizopus, Mucor etc
Ascomycetes
 The species of ascomycetes are called the sac fungi because they
produce sexual pores within the sac-like vascus.
 General Characteristics
 Ascomycetes are mostly terrestrial occurring as saprophytes or
parasites.
 They have well-developed, branched, septate mycelium except yeast.
Yeast is a unicellular fungus.
 Asexually they reproduce by non-motile spores, conidia, oidia or
chlamydospores.
 Sexual reproduction takes place by the fusion of gametangia of
opposite mating types.
 There is absence of motile cells.
 Examples, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Penicillium, Aspergillus etc.
Basidiomycetes
 The members of basidiomycetes are saprophytic or parasitic. The group
is named basidiomycetes as they produce the basidiospores at the club-
shaped basidium during sexual reproduction.
 Mycelium is highly developed, profusely branched and septate.
 The mycelia are differentiated into two mating types; (+ve) and (-ve).
 There are two kinds of mycelium; primary mycelium and secondary
mycelium.
 Asexual reproduction takes place by fragmentation, budding, oidia,
conidia or chlamydospore.
 The dikaryotic cell is formed during sexual reproduction.
 The absence of motile cell throughout the life cycle.
 Basidiomycetes are the most advanced fungi as their fructifications are
often large and prominent.
 Examples; Mushrooms, Puccinia, Ustilago etc.
Deuteromycetes (The Imperfect Fungi)
 Deuteromycetes compromises more than 17000 species of the
diverse habits and habitats. It is considered as an artificial class of fungi.
 The fungi are saprophytes as well as parasites.Parasitic fungi cause
serious diseases to plants, animals including human beings.
 Some of them are unicellular while others are multicellular.
 They reproduce asexually by conidia along with some other types of
spores.
 The sexual reproduction is entirely absent.
  The asexual stage or imperfect stage in Deuteromycetes is well defined.
But the sexual or perfect stage is absent in life cycle, therefore, they are
called ‘Fungi Imperfecti’.
 Example; Alternaria, Fusarium, Helminthosporium etc.
Classification of Medically Important Fungi
Classification Based on Site
Mycoses are classified as superficial, cutaneous, subcutaneous, or systemic
(deep) infections depending on the type and degree of tissue involvement and
the host response to the pathogen.
Superficial mycoses (or tineas) mostly occur in the tropics and are restricted
to the outer surface of the hair and skin. Examples are:
 Piedraia hortae, a filamentous member of the Ascomycota which causes
black piedra, a disease of the hair shaft characterised by brown/black
nodules on the scalp hair (actually the ascostromata of the fungus).
 Trichosporon cutaneum, a yeast belonging to the Basidiomycota that is
common in soil, water samples, plants, mammals and birds, as well as
being a member of the normal flora of mouth, skin and nails. It causes
white piedra, a superficial infection of the skin, and scalp and pubic hair
(although it is emerging as an opportunistic pathogen of the
immunocompromised).
Cutaneous mycoses. There are three genera of fungi that commonly cause
disease in the non-living tissues of skin, hair, or nails/claws of people and
animals, by growing in a zone just above where the protein keratin is
deposited.
These three genera are Microsporum, Trichophyton and Epidermophyton (all
filamentous Ascomycota) and they are often labelled ‘dermatophytes’ (with
the disease being called ‘dermatophytosis’) although, of course, they are not
plants, so they can’t be any sort of ‘-phyte’ and a better term would
be dermatomycosis. These fungi all have the ability to degrade keratin and
grow as non-invasive saprotrophs on skin and its appendages, but their
growth causes irritation and inflammation of underlying epithelial cells, this
being an allergic reaction that may result in death of these cells.
Subcutaneous mycoses are generally caused by fungi that are normally
saprotrophic inhabitants of soil, particularly in tropical and subtropical areas of
Africa, India and South America, which become infective by being introduced
through wounds in the skin. Most infections involve people who normally walk
barefoot.
 Madurella mycetomatis and M. grisea (filamentous, Ascomycota) cause
human mycetoma (common name: madura foot), which is
 a localised infection causing locally invasive tumour-like abscesses,
accompanied by chronic inflammation, resulting in swelling,
distortion and ulceration of the infected body part. The fungus is
introduced through mild wounds in the skin and may grow for several
years in the cutaneous and subcutaneous tissues, extending to
connective tissues and bones. Mycetomas are usually resistant to
chemotherapy, leaving surgery, even amputation, as the only resolution.
 Sporothrix schenckii (thermally dimorphic, Ascomycota)
causes sporotrichosis. Sporothrix is the anamorph and Ophiostoma
stenoceras the teleomorph. The fungus occurs in soil worldwide
although the disease is localised, with Peru having the highest
prevalence of Sporothrix schenckii infections. Also called ‘rose handler’s
disease’, sporotrichosis starts by entry of the fungus through minor skin
injury and can then spread through the lymphatic system. The fungus is
dimorphic, forming septate vegetative hyphae,
conidiophores and conidia at 25°C, while at 37°C oval to cigar-shaped
budding yeast cells are produced. As the yeast form is distributed by the
lymphatic system, disseminated sporotrichosis can result in infections of
the lungs and bones and joints, endophthalmitis (inflammation of the
internal layers of the eye), meningitis and invasive sinusitis.
Systemic mycoses are infections that affect the whole body. We divide these
into mycoses due to primary (usually dimorphic) virulent pathogens, and those
due to opportunistic pathogens. 
Classification Based on Route of Acquisition
 Infecting fungi may be either exogenous or endogenous.
 When classified according to the route of acquisition, a fungal infection
may be designated as exogenous or endogenous in origin.
 If classified as exogenous, an infecting organism may be transmitted by
airborne, cutaneous, or percutaneous routes.
 An endogenously-acquired fungal infection may be acquired from
colonization or reactivation of a fungus from latent infection.
Classification Based on Virulence
Primary pathogens can establish infections in normal hosts. Opportunistic
pathogens cause disease in individuals with compromised host defense
mechanisms.
 Deep mycoses are caused by primary pathogenic and opportunistic
fungal pathogens.
 The primary pathogenic fungi are able to establish infection in a normal
host; whereas, opportunistic pathogens require a compromised host in
order to establish infection (e.g., cancer, organ transplantation, surgery,
and AIDS).
 The primary deep pathogens usually gain access to the host via the
respiratory tract. Opportunistic fungi causing deep mycosis invade via
the respiratory tract, alimentary tract, or intravascular devices.
 The primary systemic fungal pathogens include Coccidioides immitis,
Histoplasma capsulatum, Blastomyces dermatitidis, and Paracoccidioides
brasiliensis.
 The opportunistic fungal pathogens include Cryptococcus neoformans,
Candida, Aspergillusspp., Penicillium marneffei, the
Zygomycetes, Trichosporon beigelii, and Fusarium spp.