Structure & Function



Structure diagram of a Agaric mushrooms.
Source: www.fungibank.csiro.au

The diagram above is a typical structure of organisms in the order Agaricales which very much resembles the structure of Amanita muscaria.

An Amanita muscaria consists of:

• Hyphae: tiny threads of cytoplasm surrounded by a plasma membrane covered by a cell wall.
• Fruiting bodies: the visible (aboveground) parts of the fungi, also known as the reproductive structure, constructed of hyphae.
• Mycelium (mycelial thread): an underground network of hyphae, used to absorb nutrients; usually extending for a large range.
• Universal veils: the temporary membrane tissue which completely envelops immature fruiting bodies of certain gilled fungi; would be ruptured as the fungi continues to grow, leaving behind the scales, rings, and volvas.
• Volva (basal cup): the lower remnant of the universal veil as the result of the growth of a mushroom.
• Stipe (stem): the part of the fruiting body that supports the cap.
• Ring (annulus): the upper remnant of the universal veil.
• Cap (pileus): the top, umbrella-shaped part of a mushroom that has gills.
• Scales: the remnants of the universal veil which are left on the cap.
• Gills (lamellae): layers of hymenophore, a strucuture that produces hymenium, under the cap.
• Trama: the most inner part of the hymenial layer.
• Basidium:a cell, located on the trama, that produces basidiospores.
• Basidiospore: a reproductive spore that has a haploid number of chromosomes; usually has a protective layer surrounding the spore.

Hyphae structure.
Source: www.fungionline.org.uk



In fact, the whole mushroom is made of hyphae. Cell structure differences between plants and fungi are that fungi's cell walls are made of chitins, whereas plants' are made of cellulose, and fungi often have multiple nuclei in a cell, whereas plants have one nucleus per cell. In addition, septums in the hyphae are what separate cells, as shown above.

(Photo Source: www.toxinology.com )

The diagram above shows the morphologies of lamellar attachments to the stipes. In the case of Amanita muscaria, it has a free attachment (upper left corner).