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We all have noticed the cottony growth
on a stale piece of left over bread.
It happens with many food items
when they are left open especially in moisture.
But have you ever wondered why?
What exactly gets this cotton like substance here?
What is it made up of?
Well, the cottony growth is nothing but a set of live cells!
Yes!
These are living cells and this fact is more than enough
for us to study them.
By now you must have guessed the name of these organisms.
Yes! I am referring to the fungi !
Fungus is usually a broad term used to cover
many organisms together.
The group consists of microscopic
as well as macroscopic  organisms.
What do we mean by this?
Microscopic  means those which can only be observed
under the microscope.

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So the cottony growth that you find on stale bread
can be included in this category.
On the other hand, macro means huge!
So those which are big enough to be observed with naked eyes
are macroscopic organisms.
Which organisms can we consider as an example of this type?
Well mushrooms and puffballs can be included in this category.
Let’s talk about the microscopic types first.
These being too small what do you think will be their structure?
Do you think they will always be unicellular ?
Well, not all !
Only a few types like yest are unicellular.
Whereas others in spite of being microscopic
are multi-cellular nature.
The unicellular forms exist as one single cell
which performs all the activities efficiently!
On the other hand the multi-cellular one’s
have bodies comprising of many cells
that co-ordinate to bring about smooth processes.
The multi cellular body usually consists of this

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stalk like structure  and a cap  on top of it.
This cap comes in various forms.
Some of them may have a bag like  structure.
Others may have an ‘umbrella shaped  structure’.
Both these are dedicated to a special role.
They contain spores of the fungi,
which can be dispersed to give rise to new fungal bodies on germination.
Now moving to the stalk…
This usually consists of long  slender filaments .
These filaments are the cells that make up the entire fungal body.
They form a dense network together.
So are these filaments given any specific name?
Scientifically they are addressed as the HYPHAE  or singular HYPHA!
These threads get interwoven to form a network!
This structure is what we call as the mycelium.
So can we say that the mycelium is a collection of Hyphae ?
Yes! And can we also say that the fungal body
is made up of mycelium?

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Absolutely!
Thus, this stalk that we can see here
and also these root like structures
are all mycelium made up of hyphae.
Now one more important question that pops up here!
Are these hyphae made up of one continuous tube?
Or they are made up of smaller sections?
Let’s zoom in further to know this.
Some fungi have hyphae that have partitions.
These partitions as we can see here are called as the Septa,
or singular Septum!
So such types of hyphae are called as septate hyphae .
Now can you guess the next type?
They will be without the Septum!
In many fungi, you find no partitions in the hyphae.
These are called as aseptate hyphae.
Another name for such type is coenocytic  hyphae .
Now you may wonder as to why the structure of these hyphae
is so important to us?
What could be their possible function?

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Well, apart from forming the entire body of the fungi,
these help in many ways.
Hyphae are ideal for absorbing nutrients
from the surrounding food source.
Precisely, the tip of these hyphae release enzymes
that bring about digestion of food outside the body.
After breakdown, these nutrients are absorbed directly  by the hyphae
and are passed to various parts of the fungal body.
If the hyphae are aseptate,
then the nutrients can be directly passed.
However in Septate hyphae, the case is different.
The septa have small pores
which allow passage or even exchange of substances.
The hyphae are also known to contain cytoplasm
and a few important organelles.
And most important is the presence of nuclei  inside them.
Thus, the genetic material of the fungus is locked in these hyphae.
For all these reasons the hyphae are important to us
while studying the fungi.

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Well this was the multi-cellular structure of fungi.
But this is what we observe under the microscope right?
So will the huge macroscopic structures
that we see in case of mushrooms
have a similar internal structure or something different?
Think for a moment!
Well, astonishingly these also have a similar internal structure.
So the body of the mushroom will also be made up of Mycelium.
Similar to the microscopic ones,
even this Mycelium will be made up of inter-woven hyphae.
So we may find slight modifications in these different types of fungi,
but the basic structure  remains the same!
Well you may wonder as to why we need to study about these fungi.
What is their importance?
Let me explain.
There are several important roles that fungi play in ours
as well as other organisms’ lives.
Some of them include, forming a symbiotic relation with plant roots .

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Symbiotic means a mutual give and take relation.
So both organisms: the plants as well as the fungi
are benefited in some or the other way.
Secondly, helping us with many medicinally important products.
Do you know any such product obtained from fungi?
Of course you do!
You are familiar with the antibiotic Penicillin.
This is obtained from the fungi of genus penicillium.
Similarly, many of the foods  that we relish
including bakery items and cheese
are all a gift of various fungi to us.
So don’t you think studying them is important for us?
That is the reason why we have a complete branch of microbiological
studies dedicated for studying fungi exclusively!
This is called Mycology ,
where mycos is fungi and logos is study!
Well this was about the fungi.
Do you remember the next type of micro-organism we’d mentioned?

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Yes! It was PROTOZOA !
So let’s have a look at this type in the next video!
