Number of species in the collection: 1.
Pictures of Oomycota:
Characteristics of Oomycota:
The phylum Oomycota (which means egg fungi) is a group of organisms primarily
microscopic with a worldwide distribution, inhabiting terrestrial, freshwater,
and to a lesser extent, oceanic environments. They are organisms that often are
unnoticed but they are ecologically important, either because they parasitize
animals and plants or because they feed on organic debris. Many species cause
serious diseases in animals and plants, including commercially important
species.
They are small organisms, generally microscopic, often formed by more or less
branched filaments of single-cell thickness, with few or no septa (transverse
cell walls). These filaments produce substances that dissolve food, allowing it
to enter to the host cell. Their life cycles are dominated by the diploid phase,
which has two copies of each chromosome. They frequently form asexual spores,
enabling them to reproduce massively under suitable conditions. Additionally,
they can form sporangia that produce swimming cells of asexual origin, which can
move, attach to a substrate, and grow. Sexually mature individuals typically
form female structures consisting mainly of large cells called oogonia, each
with one copy of each chromosome. These cells are fertilized by the tips of
filaments from another individual or the same individual, which act as sperm
cells (called antheridium) as they possess only one copy of each chromosome.
When the antheridium touches the oogonium, the cell walls fuse, and the nuclei
from the antheridium pass into the oogonium, merging and forming cells with two
copies of each chromosome. The oogonium eventually forms spores that can
germinate rapidly or remain as resistance structures.
The phylum Oomycota is related to brown algae (phylum
Heterokontophyta) however, they have
lost the ability to photosynthesize as they have adapted to a parasitic or
saprophytic lifestyle.
Phylum: Oomycota