Fungal Cell Structure

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Fungal Cell Structure

Fungal Cell Structure

A typical fungal cell has complex protoplasm containing microvesicles, microtubules, ribosomes, mitochondria (1.0 to 1.5 mm in diameter) Golgi apparatus, nuclei and a double membrane cytoplasmic reticulum. The nucleus is enclosed by a defined nuclear membrane with all its DNA and has a nucleolus rich in RNA.

The amount of DNA in a single fungal cell is about 4-10 times that of a bacterium but only 1/1000 times that of a plant or animal cell. A membrane known as plasmalemma, composed of glycoproteins, lipids and ergosterol encloses the entire protoplasm.

The compound ergosterol is unique to fungi contrasting with mammals which have cholesterol. Outside the plasmalemma, a multilayered cell wall is present. The wall which constitutes 90 per cent of the dry weight of the fungus is complex containing chitin, a polymer of N-acetyl glucosamine as its structural base.

The chitin is layered with mannans, glucans and other complex polysaccharides amidst polypeptides. In filamentous fungi, chitin is biosynthesised at the growing tip of the hypha and is controlled by the enzyme chitin synthetase. Some fungi have a capsular polysaccharide outside the cell wall which serves to isolate fungi from their environment but at the same time acts as a liason between the outside environment and cell contents.

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