Chytridiomycota
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Chytridiales |
Chytridiomycota is a division of the Fungi kingdom and contains only one class, Chytridiomycetes. The name refers to the chytridium (from the Greek, chytridion, meaning "little pot"): the structure containing unreleased spores. In older classifications, chytrid orders (except the recently established Neocallimasticales and Spizellomycetales) were placed in the Class Phycomycetes under the Subdivision Myxomycophyta of the Kingdom Fungi. Also, in an older and more restricted sense (not used here), the term "chytrids" referred just to those fungi in the order Chytridiales.
The chytrids are the most primitive of the fungi and are mostly saprobic (degrading chitin and keratin). Many chytrids are aquatic (mostly found in freshwater). There are approximately 1,000 chytrid species, in 127 genera, distributed among 5 orders. Both zoospores and gametes of the chytrids are mobile by their flagella, one whiplash per individual. The thalli are coenocytic and usually form no true mycelium (having rhizoids instead). Some species are unicellular.
Some chytrid species are known to kill amphibians in large numbers. The actual process, however, is unknown. The infection is referred to as chytridiomycosis. Decline in frog populations led to the discovery of chytridomycosis in 1998 in Australia and Panama. Chytrids may also infect plant species; in particular, maize-attacking and alfalfa-attacking species have been described. Synchytrium endobioticum is an important potato pathogen.
