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Mushrooms belong to the natural community, continue the phrase. Mushrooms

A mysterious species of living organisms that has not been fully studied today is mushrooms. Living on our planet for more than a billion years, they number about a million species, of which man has been able to explore, classify and describe only 5% - 70,000 species. One of the very first inhabitants of planet Earth has amazing medicinal properties. Few people know that the medicine that saved millions of lives is an antibiotic, which is a product of its vital activity. Most interesting fact: Residents of villages near Opochka (Pskov region) have never suffered from cancer. They are saved by the mushroom fungus, whose polysaccharides produce perforin, which is capable of making holes in the membrane of cancer cells. And the latter simply die off.

kingdom of mushrooms

The superkingdom of eukaryotes unites the kingdom of plants, the kingdom of animals and... the kingdom of fungi. Yes, due to their special properties, mushrooms belong to the kingdom of fungi. They cannot be called animals, but neither can they be called plants.

Fungi share common characteristics with plants:

presence of a cell wall;
ability to synthesize vitamins;
immobility in a vegetative state;
reproduction by spores;
absorption of food by adsorption (absorption).

But there are also features in common with animals:

absence of chloroplasts and photosynthetic pigments;
heterotrophy;
accumulation of glycogen as a reserve substance;
the presence of a chitin cell wall, which is characteristic of the skeleton of arthropods;
formation and release of urea.

Variety of mushrooms

Fungi are divided into higher fungi, lower fungi and fungi-like organisms. The higher fungi include the following classes: ascomycetes, zygomycetes, deuteromycetes and basidiomycetes. They are also called real mushrooms. They have completely lost the flagellar stages; a specific polysaccharide, chitosan, is part of the cell membranes. The cells also contain glucose polymers and chitin.

Tubular mushrooms include

Porcini.
Butter.
boletus
Boletuses.

Mushrooms that have a typical stalk and cap, the lower part of which consists of small holes and produces spores. Among the tubular ones, none poisonous mushrooms, but there are conditionally edible ones that require preliminary preparation before use. They can only be found in wooded areas; they do not grow in open areas.

TO agaric mushrooms include milk mushroom, saffron milk cap, champignon, honey mushroom and others. Their main difference from tubular ones is the presence of plates in the lower part of the cap, where spores are formed. The color of the spore powder often helps to identify the type of mushroom - edible or poisonous.

Poisonous mushrooms include

Fly agarics.
Death cap(absolutely poisonous mushrooms).
Morels
Satanic mushroom
False honey mushrooms (toxicity can be reduced by cooking).

The mushrooms listed above are divided into separate subspecies of mushrooms. They have become toxic due to unfavorable environmental conditions.

There are 32 species of poisonous mushrooms in total. The most harmless of them - poisonous champignon, undercooked honey mushroom - can cause upset an hour after eating. The second group - hallucinogens - is characterized by stomach upset, sweating, nausea and vomiting, which occurs 2 hours after eating. It is also possible to experience bouts of laughter, crying, etc. The third group - pale toadstool, sulfur-yellow honey fungus - cause damage to the liver, kidneys and other important organs, provoking irreversible processes.

Considering that the world of mushrooms is very poorly studied, the definitions of what mushrooms belong to are quite arbitrary and unstable. Perhaps tomorrow another discovery will change our understanding of them.

Mushrooms - what an amazing, unique and, moreover, diverse world this is! We know cap mushrooms well. But mushrooms are also mold, and yeast, and unusual growths on trees, and some of them you certainly wouldn’t think of as… mushrooms!

They are believed to have appeared 900 million years ago, and by about 300 million years ago all the major groups of modern fungi already existed.

Scientists have long tried to understand what a mushroom is - a plant or an animal? After all, he has signs of both. So, like plants, fungi reproduce and disperse by spores, lead an attached lifestyle, that is, they grow in one place. But they lack photosynthesis, and they feed on organic substances, and the DNA of fungi and animals, as shown by molecular genetic studies, is as close as possible to each other. Therefore, relatively recently, mushrooms were identified as an independent kingdom of nature. It is enormous: more than 100 thousand species have already been described by scientists, but it is assumed that this is no more than 5% of the number existing species mushrooms!

And yet, what is a mushroom? And what is an individual mushroom? And is it even possible to pose the question this way? After all, what many people love to collect is edible mushrooms, are just fruiting bodies, like apples that grow on an apple tree.

The mushroom itself, or rather, mycelium, or mycelium (from the Greek mykes, “mushroom”), is located mainly underground and is a dense interweaving of the finest threads - hyphae (from the Greek hyphe, “fabric”, “web”). This is a chain of cells located one after another. The hyphae branch, grow and form a mycelium. If we look at the fruiting body of the mushroom under a microscope, we will see that it is not something separate, but all the same hyphae, only more densely intertwined. Therefore, the question “what is an individual fungus?” somewhat incorrect.

The mycelium (mycelium) can cover an area of several kilometers. But even this is conditional, since it is difficult to determine where it ends. And if we remember that more than one type of mushroom grows in our forest, then where does one mycelium end and another begins?.. There are probably no or almost no places on earth that are not entangled in mycelium. After all, mushrooms live not only in forests, but also in meadows and even swamps. (For now we are talking about mushrooms, the substrate for which is soil.)

So, a mushroom is a kind of network, a web that penetrates the upper soil layer and sometimes comes to the surface. Then people say that the mycelium “blooms.”

Mycorrhiza

Why are some edible mushrooms named after trees or forest types - boletus, boletus, boletus, oak? And why do these (and other) mushrooms prefer to grow with certain trees?

The fact is that there is a symbiosis between fungi and plants - mycorrhiza (from the Greek mykes, "mushroom" and hiza, “root”), mushroom root.

This friendship between fungi and higher vascular plants is extremely important for both. So important that more than 80% of land plants form mycorrhizae with fungi. Fungal hyphae envelop the roots of plants in a fluffy sheath, merging with them, sometimes even penetrating between the cells of the root bark or, in special cases, into living cells of the bark, but do not damage them. If we could look into the underground world, we would see that the roots of plants and fungi form a single network, one, widespread root system.

How do fungi help plants?

Firstly, plant roots absorb dissolved water from the soil. minerals, which they need for nutrition (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and many trace elements), and mushrooms feed on organic substances, “dissolving” them with enzymes secreted externally. Thus, thanks to the widely spread mushroom root, the absorption area of the substances necessary for plants increases many times. Mycorrhiza increases the ability of roots to absorb substances from the soil thousands of times!

In addition, mushrooms help plants better absorb these substances. After all, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and others chemical elements may be in different chemical compounds, and not all of them can be absorbed by plants. And even if all the necessary “products” are available, the plants may be hungry. This means that it is necessary to synthesize compounds that plants can easily absorb. There are many “cooks for plants” in the soil, but one of the main ones is mushrooms. During their life, the biochemical composition of the soil changes and substances are formed that are easy for plants to “eat”. Mycorrhizal symbiosis is an indispensable condition for the successful growth and development of both individual trees and the entire forest. (Without mycorrhiza, a tree can be grown, perhaps, only in a nursery, where fertilizing is carried out and there is no competition.)

Fungi also protect the root system of plants from pathogenic (phytopathogenic) organisms. Thanks to mycorrhiza, plants get sick many times less.

Without mycorrhiza, symbiosis with nodule bacteria would be impossible.

In addition, mycorrhiza increases the resistance of plants (this is especially important for trees) to cold and dry conditions close to the limit of their existence. This is also necessary in northern latitudes, and in mountainous areas, and in dry desert or semi-desert areas, and in conditions of soil salinity. This means that thanks to mycorrhiza, plants are able to adapt to a much wider range of environmental conditions and master the most different places a habitat.

How do plants help fungi?

Plants supply them with ready-made organic substances (carbohydrates), and in huge quantities: according to available estimates, plants can spend from 10 to 50% of the gross primary product of photosynthesis for the needs of their symbionts.

Without mycorrhiza, mushrooms simply would not have enough strength to develop fruiting bodies, and spores ripen in them. Fungi reproduce by spores, so without plants they would have difficulty reproducing and would be doomed to extinction. By the way, most of the edible cap mushrooms that we love so much are mycorrhizal.

So, thanks to mycorrhiza, mushrooms develop well and effectively form fruiting bodies. Plants also become stronger, develop better, bloom and bear fruit more abundantly, and suffer much less disease.

Experiments have shown that the higher biological diversity mycorrhizal fungi, the higher species diversity and the stability of ecosystems in general!

Of course, a prerequisite for all this is a balanced ecosystem. And, for example, this does not apply to man-made plantings. Hence our corresponding attitude.

Remember ergot (once a scourge of wheat or rye fields, causing convulsions and even death of a person who ate bread in which it got in). It forms substances (alkaloids) that give plants a bitter taste and, thus, protect them from herbivores, ranging from insects and slugs to ruminants. This is how balance is regulated again. The cereals themselves with the presence of this fungus bush better and suffer less disease.

Where do mushrooms live?

Take a look around. Almost all trees growing in our latitudes: pine, spruce, oak, birch, aspen form mycorrhiza with fungi. Most forest shrubs and grasses do the same. There are shrubs, for example blueberries, lingonberries, for which mycorrhiza is the only possible way existence. As for herbaceous plants... almost all of them form mycorrhizae. Steppes, meadows, forests in the form that is familiar to us could not exist without mycorrhiza.

Partners in symbiosis are by no means “loyal” to each other. And if “monogamous” mushrooms are still found, then each woody plant, as a rule, is capable of forming mycorrhiza with many partners.

A knowledgeable mushroom picker looks for specific mushrooms in specific forests. For example, boletus forms mycorrhiza with aspen, birch, spruce, pine, and less often with other trees. Boletus - with different types birch and lives in birch or mixed forests with the participation of birch. Oiler forms mycorrhiza with pine, less often with spruce, grows in dry coniferous forests, predominantly pine (especially in young forests), less often spruce, and also mixed. Milk and milk mushrooms love rich soils and usually grow in spruce-deciduous forests with alder, raspberries, and nettles. But the chanterelles are amazing! - do not form mycorrhizae. This may be why they grow in all types of forests. Russulas too, but the situation with them is different. There are a lot of species of this family (Russulaceae), and each species, as a rule, forms mycorrhiza with trees of a specific species. But since there are many species, we find russula almost everywhere.

Mushrooms and ecology

You have heard the words more than once: “Be careful, do not disturb the forest floor and upper layer the soil underneath! And now we probably understand why. It is in the surface layer of soil that the mycelium lives, and the litter serves as both a “blanket” that maintains the necessary humidity and nutrition.

Mycorrhiza helps plants and fungi not only in pure natural natural conditions. Her help is extremely important in conditions of technogenic pollution environment. In the USA, Spain, and relatively recently in Russia, experiments were carried out on the territories of factories where the soil is heavily polluted by emissions of heavy metals (copper, lead, cadmium, zinc). Around such factories, wastelands often form (occupying a fairly large area), in which it is not possible to grow forests, because the trees die very quickly. They tried to artificially introduce mycorrhiza-forming fungi into the soil, and lo and behold! - the trees began to grow and develop beautifully. Thanks to the mushroom root, the mineral nutrition of trees has improved, and, most importantly, the mushrooms have become a kind of barrier that prevents metal ions from penetrating from the soil into the roots of plants. The forest has grown.

Mushrooms are resistant to many toxins. According to some studies, the weakening of plants plays a much larger role in the phenomenon of fungal degeneration than the direct effect of toxins on fungi.

Fungi and forest communities

Among the mushrooms there are rare species, which are included in the Red Books. But since fungi and plants are inextricably linked, it is important to protect not rare species of fungi, rare species of plants or rare species of animals, but the natural community as a whole.

It is also assumed that the fungi remaining in the soil after cutting down the indigenous forest contribute to the restoration of the original vegetation cover. The fungal community in this case acts as the memory of the biological system.

The mycelium of mycorrhizal fungi combines the components of the natural community into one whole; a single ecological and biological system, a network, is formed in the underground sphere of the forest. Lesnoye plant community, thanks to connections through mycorrhiza, becomes a single organism!

For example, under certain circumstances, mycorrhiza becomes a real “bridge” through which nutrients pass from one plant to another. Moreover, this different plant does not have to be the same species! Plants share nutrients with each other, transferring them primarily to those who especially need it - weakened individuals who need to be helped to recover. And mushrooms help transmit.

The role of tinder fungi

As is known, plants begin the cycle of matter and energy in nature when, under the influence sun rays absorb carbon dioxide from the air and minerals from the soil. But mushrooms complete this great cycle: they destroy dead organic matter, returning carbon dioxide to the air and minerals to the soil. (The wood that fungi break down is the main storehouse of carbon and ash elements.)

Imagine that there is a stump left from a tree. In just 50 years, mushrooms will turn it hard wood into forest humus. Over these half a century, dozens of species of so-called saprotrophic fungi will replace each other in a certain order on the stump (saprotrophs are those who feed on the dead remains of other living beings, from the Greek sapros, "rotten" and trophe,"food"). This decomposition process organic matter called biodegradation. Organics must come into play again. The leading role in this belongs to mushrooms. Without this it is extraordinary important role The forest of mushrooms would very quickly turn into fallen trunks and branches.

Interestingly, only mushrooms can digest wood. It is very resistant to decomposition, and the animals of our strip are not able to eat it.

And mushrooms, settling on a dead tree, secrete certain enzymes that are unique to them, thanks to which the wood quickly breaks down. Of the variety of decomposer organisms, only fungi have the necessary and self-sufficient enzyme systems that allow them to completely decompose wood.

And of course, tinder fungi play the main role here. They begin and carry out the main part of the destruction process (the rest can be connected in the process).

On old stumps and trunks of old dry trees you can see beautiful galaxies of tinder fungi. And always: their fruiting bodies, unlike other mushrooms, are perennial.

Why are they called tinder? From a spark struck by a flint, their dry fruiting bodies quickly ignite and smolder for a long time, so they were used as tinder in the old days, when matches, much less lighters, had not yet been invented.

Such wood-destroying mushrooms include the famous chagas, and mushroom pickers’ favorite mushrooms, and oyster mushrooms. (Polypores, honey mushrooms, oyster mushrooms are close relatives and belong to the class of basidiomycetes.)

Honey fungus (autumn honey fungus, or real honey fungus) grows in the most different forests, often in clearings and fires. IN dark nights you can see spots of white phosphorescent light on the stumps. There is no need to be scared - these are the ends of the honey fungus mycelium that are glowing.

Many people often refer to all claw-like polypores as chagas. But chaga is not at all like a hoof. It looks like an indeterminate black growth, which can often be found on old birch trees. (Usually it settles on birch trees, but sometimes on alder, rowan or maple.) And only by looking very carefully at such a “growth” can you understand whether it is chaga. Chaga is not the fruiting body of a mushroom. Chaga is a sterile growth of the mycelium of the tinder fungus called Inonotus obliquus.

What are myxomycetes?

Myxomycete (from Greek myxa,"slime" and mykes, “mushroom”, that is, slimy mushrooms) is not quite a mushroom or not quite an animal. They belong to the department of non-chlorophyll fungiform organisms. And they say that they stand on the boundary between the plant and animal kingdoms and that it is more correct to call them mycetozoa, that is, animal fungi. Why?

They always live in damp places of the forest. The smallest spores are easily carried even by weak winds. The spore fell into a humid environment, and a mobile cell, often with two flagella, “hatched” from it. The cell grows, divides and turns into an amoeba! Of course, not into an animal familiar to us, but into a creature similar to an amoeba. This amoeba of ours feeds on decaying plant matter and moves and crawls all the time! It moves, like a real amoeba, changing its shape, sometimes releasing, sometimes pulling up spurs (pseudopods). When meeting, amoebas can merge, forming “nets” crawling along the substrate and enveloping branches and leaves along the way. These creatures crawl slowly (at a speed of up to 5 mm per hour), but quite purposefully. They are moving towards more warm places and towards nutrients and “run away” from harmful agents. In addition, young people move away from the light, towards wetter places, and mature individuals, preparing for the formation of a fruit, move back - towards light and air, towards drier places. Having chosen a convenient place, they stop, as if they freeze, and turn into fruiting bodies.

If there are other myxomycetes in the forest, you should pay attention to them along the way. In shape they are often round balls ranging in size from a few millimeters to a centimeter (although there are also giants up to 10 cm, but we can’t find them here). But their coloring is fantastic: from simple white, gray, brownish to soft pink, egg yellow, bright orange, coral red!

The role of mushrooms in human life

Fungi were the first microorganisms that humans used to improve nutritional properties plant and animal food. Since time immemorial, yeast has given humanity two essential product, without which the development of civilization would be unthinkable: bread and wine.

Two revolutions in medicine are associated with mushrooms. The first is the discovery of penicillin. This clinically used antibiotic saved from death more people than all other drugs combined. With its discovery, it became possible to treat diseases that were previously considered fatal: peritonitis, sepsis. And although a huge number of antibiotics from prokaryotes, mainly actinomycetes, were then found, fungal antibiotics from the group of beta-lactams - penicillins and cephalosporins - remain uncompetitive.

The second pharmacological revolution has occurred recently. Everyone knows the experiments of the South African surgeon Bernard in human organ transplantation. But despite the fact that technically the problem of transplants was solved long ago, practically it was not found wide application due to rejection of transplanted organs. And only after the discovery of fungal antibiotics from the cyclosporine group, which turned out to be highly active immunosuppressants, these operations became a common clinical practice, and patients stopped dying.

People have long and widely used mushrooms as a food product. They are rich in proteins: 20–30% of their dry matter is pure protein. In addition, they contain fats, minerals, microelements (iron, calcium, zinc, iodine, potassium, phosphorus). There are about 300 species of edible mushrooms in our country. Many fungi, especially microscopic ones, form physiologically active substances. These include antibiotics, vitamins (including those from the folic group), organic acids (citric and others), a number of enzyme preparations, hallucinogens, and so on. Some of these substances are produced on an industrial scale for the treatment of humans and animals or for other purposes. National economy(penicillin, lemon acid and others). Doctors are trying to use psilocybin and psilocin, produced by mushrooms from the genus Psilocybe, to treat mental illness. Chaga preparations increase resistance to cancer and are used to treat peptic ulcers, gastritis and other gastrointestinal diseases. Extracts from the fruiting bodies of some marasmius species suppress the growth of tuberculosis bacillus. The enzyme russulin, produced by one of the types of russula, is used in the production of cheese.

Fungi also play an important role in the cycle of substances in nature. Possessing a rich enzyme apparatus, they actively decompose the remains of animals and plants that enter the soil, contributing to the formation of a fertile soil layer.

Mushroom picker ethics

In the forest you should behave quietly and try to be unnoticed, so as not to disturb the peace with your presence and not to frighten wild animals. You should only collect mushrooms that will be eaten. Mushrooms that are not of interest to us should not be touched. Maybe they will be plucked by someone else who comes after us.

It is best to go for mushrooms early in the morning. The most convenient time for picking mushrooms is between 6 and 7 am. The most favorable weather for the appearance of mushrooms is warm rain with sunshine. That is, if there was a light warm rain in the evening, it means that there will probably be a good harvest in the morning.

Under no circumstances should you pick mushrooms near roads, railways, factories, and especially in cities, as they tend to absorb all the harmful particles that are in the air.

Perhaps the most important rule: if you don’t know, don’t take a mushroom. If there is any slightest doubt, it is better to leave the mushroom in the forest.

Under no circumstances take mushrooms that have already rotted. Even if the rotten part is removed, the taste and useful qualities mushrooms may be damaged.

Overripe and soft mushrooms, as well as wormy ones, should not be taken either.

It is best to collect mushrooms in baskets made of willow twigs or birch bark baskets. It is not recommended to put mushrooms in plastic bags and buckets, as they quickly deteriorate due to the lack of air.

When collecting mushrooms, especially valuable ones (for example, porcini), never tear the moss or break out the stems along with the mycelium. In dug up areas, the exposed mycelium, which has been growing for 10 years, will dry out and die under the rays of the sun. There will be no mushrooms either this year or next.

The fruiting bodies of mushrooms need to be collected like this: take the mushroom by the stem and rotational movement, swinging it, pull it out so that the leg is completely separated from the substrate. If the leg is fragile and brittle, use a knife or your fingers to pry it up and push it up out of the ground. The remaining hole should be covered with earth or moss so that the exposed mycelium does not dry out in vain. Before putting the mushroom in the basket, you need to clean it of any remaining soil and dirt, and also remove the slimy skin from the caps so that the mucus does not stain the rest of the mushrooms.

We place the collected mushrooms in the basket in this way: hard and large ones on the bottom, and soft or fragile ones on top, so that they do not break or crumble.

“Edible mushrooms” - The yellow-brown moss mushroom, like the green moss mushroom, is edible. The pulp is yellowish, turns a little blue when broken. In birch forests there are lighter caps, in pine and mixed forests - dark ones. The float is gray. The first mushrooms appear in the second ten days of August. Not uncommon in mountain forests. Porcini. Volnushka grows in birch or forests mixed with birch.

“Signs of mushrooms” - Signs characteristic of mushrooms: Mold. Yeast. Mushrooms are divided into: Mushrooms-. Part of nature. Poisonous. Edible. What kingdom do mushrooms belong to?

“Mushrooms are the kingdom of living nature” - Mosses. Animals. Herbs. Aboveground part. Hat hats. Tall trees. Mushrooms are a special kingdom of nature. Mushrooms. Poisonous. Not alive. What is a forest? Shrubs. Underground part. Nature. Hat. It does not belong to either the plant or animal world. A special kingdom of nature. "Antibiotics." Mold. Natural community.

“Kingdom of Mushrooms” - Gruzd. Butter. Russula. Fragrant mushrooms. Friendly families again. Fly agaric. Russula caps. False honey fungus. How do mushrooms eat? Porcini. Appears in the first half of summer. Ryzhik. Rules for collecting mushrooms. Presentation on the world around us. Pulp. Aspen leaves. Gall mushroom. What benefits do mushrooms bring to nature?

“Edible and inedible mushrooms” - Russula. False honey fungus. Autumn is the time of mushrooms. Boletus. Porcini. Fly agaric. Honey fungus. Poisonous mushrooms. Volnushki. Porphyry (gray) fly agaric. Butter. Chanterelles. Boletus. Pale grebe is white.

“Mushrooms” - Boletus. Fruiting body. What are saprophytes? Volnushka. Hat. Theophrastus described the properties of champignons, morels, and truffles. Hippocrates in the 5th century BC compiled a large list of mushrooms used for food. The structure of a cap mushroom. Porcini. What about microbiology? Gall mushroom. What is mycelium and mycelium?

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Screening test on the topic “Natural communities”

Students______3rd grade___________________________

1.What is a natural community?

a) a complex unity of living and inanimate nature;

b) unity of plants, animals, people;

c) water, air, minerals, soil;

d) trees, shrubs, mushrooms, herbs.

2.What does not apply to natural communities?

a) forest; b) meadow; c) soil; d) pond.

3. What natural community are we talking about?

Shrubs grow here and herbaceous plants, there are many animals. There are also mushrooms here.