Objective – I can identify beneficial uses of fungi.

Beneficial Fungi “Wanted” Poster(modified from an activity at Access Exchange)

AssignmentYour assignment is to make a “wanted poster” for a beneficial fungus. Using your fact sheet, select a fungus.

Draw a picture of the fungus you selected. Write the name of the organism under the picture. Include information about what the fungus does for us that is

positive. For example, if it makes a drug, explain why that drug is important.

If it is used in the making of food, why we like and eat that food.

If it kills other microbes or insects, explain why this is important.

Make sure you use complete sentences.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungusThese fungi invade plant root cells and both species benefit from the resulting increased supply of nutrients.

These fungi help plants to capture necessary nutrients. These include phosphorus, sulfur, nitrogen and micronutrients from the soil.

It has been said that it is quicker to list the plants that do not form use these fungi to help get needed nutrients than those that do.

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Objective – I can identify beneficial uses of fungi.

Penicillium chrysogenumThis fungus is the one Alexander Fleming was growing when he discovered what would become the first antibiotic. Like many discoveries, it was an accident the The fungal spores got into the dish growing bacteria. The bacteria surrounding the fungus died

Scientists were eventually able to mass produce penicillin. They were given to the military for their use during World War II. Ten of thousands of soldiers who would have died from infections received after they were wounded lived because of penicillin.

Baker’s yeast or Saccharomyces cerevisiaeThis fungus is used to make bread and other wheat-based products, such as pizza dough and dumplings.

This fungus had been used thousands of years to make food for people. It helped prevent starvation.

Mushroom

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Objective – I can identify beneficial uses of fungi.

Mushrooms are edible fungi. They vary greatly in their color, texture, shape and properties. There are approximately 140,000 species of mushroom-forming fungi in the world.

Mushrooms can be very dangerous! Most species of mushrooms are not edible, are highly poisonous and look strikingly similar to their edible counterparts. Always trust sealed products from reputable companies

TrufflesThe term “truffle” refers to members of the genera Tuber and Terfezia. Truffles are round, warty, and irregular in shape and vary from the size of a walnut to that of a man’s fist.

Since the times of the Greeks and Romans these fungi have been used in Europe as delicacies, as aphrodisiacs, and as medicines. They are among the most expensive of the world’s natural foods, often commanding as much as $250 to $450 per pound.

Truffles are harvested in Europe with the aid of female pigs or truffle dogs, which are able to detect the strong smell of mature truffles underneath the surface of the ground.

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