Rhizopus Zygotes and Sporangia Paper Example

Introduction

Rhizopus is a fungi genus of ten species of fungi that have filaments and belong to the Rhizopodaceae family. Rhizopus fungi include Rhizopus stolonifer found in the bread and can be used in industrial applications and also cause diseases in animals and plants. Most of the Rhizopus species are decomposers which feed on the dead organic matter while others are parasitic or pathogenic. A Rhizopus species called R. arrhizus is responsible for mucormycosis a rare but serious disease that affects burn victims, diabetes ketoacidosis, HIV/Aids, and certain cancer patients. Rhizopus port of entry is through ingestion by eating contaminated food or inhalation through the respiratory system. Mucormycosis invades the blood vessels in both humans and animals and slowly progresses to the brain and the lungs with a mortality rate of 50% but it depends on the preexisting condition. In high temperatures, the Rhizopus species grow very first and are opportunistic in nature which makes them fatal. Rhizopus lifecycle has both asexual and sexual reproduction where the spores upon finding a favorable environment in a host germinate. The nuclei which are isolated in gametangia fuse and pair up which becomes a zygosporangium and remain dormant and eventually through meiosis a sporangium sprout emanates with spores that open and disperse the spores to form the next generation (Mueller et al., 2004).

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Aspergillus

Aspergillus is a genus of fungi found in the natural environment and the Aspergillus spores are found in the air. When the spores find a solid or liquid surface they germinate in the right condition. Aspergillus are harmless but in people with weakened immunity, they cause diseases due to the allergenic responses of humans on mycotoxins produced by Aspergillus. The respiratory system is the portal of entry for Aspergillus causing aspergillosis where the fungus spreads in the entire body. Invasive aspergillosis such as aspergilloma is characterized by the growth of the fungus in the body of the host with aspergilloma being associated with tuberculosis. Aspergillus are saprophytes and grow on decaying matter with its lifecycle beginning at the production of the conidia which are asexual spores that are dispersed in the air. Upon inhalation, the mucociliary clearance and the epithelial cells remove the Aspergillus conidia in healthy people with a robust immune but in people with weak immune the Aspergillus conidia germinate and mature to Aspergillus fumigatus causing diseases (Dagenais & Keller, 2009).

Penicillum

Penicillum is a fungi genus that is identified by the brush-like structures that have spores called penicillin. Penicillum is the most abundant fungi genus found in soil and produce asexually. The entry port of disease-causing Penicillum marneffei is the respiratory system as conidiophores that invades people with weak immunes. Penicillum lifecycle begins as a conidia spores which are dispersed and germinate in moist warm surfaces and multiplies during the growing season. Upon germination, the penicullium mycelium is formed which forms a conidiophore that further creates conidia to be dispersed (Mueller et al., 2004).

Candida albicans

Candida albicans are common microorganisms that live in human bodies and can be found in the mouth, gastrointestinal tract and the vagina. Candida albicans is a major cause of fungal infections in humans when the population control is disrupted. Candida albicans are either unicellular such as yeast or multicellular which have hyphae. Candida albicans reproduces through asexual reproduction with the diploid cells fusing to create a tetraploid that splits back to diploid state (Mueller et al., 2004).

Fasciola Hepatica

Fasciola Hepatica is commonly referred to as liver fluke that can infect people. The port of entry of Fasciola Hepatica is through oral ingestion of contaminated water plants and raw watercress that have the immature larvae. The Fasciola Hepatica larvae migrate through the intestinal walls, the liver tissue and the abdominal cavity to the bile ducts where they develop into flukes and produce eggs and the eggs are excreted again through feces and through water the embryonated eggs of Fasciola Hepatica hatch and penetrate snails which grow in the snail tissues to a free-swimming cercariae that encyst on plants and when ingested by humans and animals (Mueller et al., 2004).

Taenia

Tania also known as pork tapeworms are parasites that invade the host and depend on the host for survival. The eggs of Taenia are passed through feces and can survive for many days and months in the natural environment. The portal entry of Taenia species is through ingestion in food where the cysticercus develops in over two months to form adult tapeworm which can survive in the human host for years by attaching in the small intestines. The adult tapeworms produce proglottids that mature to become gravid and detach from the mother tapeworm after which they migrate to the anus and passed in the feces after which the eggs are released (Frazier & Drzymkowski, 2016).

Hookworm

Hookworm is a nematode worm that lives in the intestines of animals and has hook-like structures that help them to attach themselves to the walls of the gut and feeds on the blood from the blood vessels. The hookworms enter the hosts from the surrounding environment through the skin. Upon entering the host the eggs are produced by the hookworms in the intestines and passed through feces where the rhabditiform larva hatches and grows to the filariform larva which penetrates the skin and migrates to the small intestines (Mehlhorn, 2007).

References

Dagenais, T. R., & Keller, N. P. (2009). Pathogenesis of Aspergillus fumigatus in invasive aspergillosis. Clinical microbiology reviews, 22(3), 447-465.

Frazier, M. S., & Drzymkowski, J. W. (2016). Essentials of human diseases and conditions.

Mehlhorn, H. (2007). Encyclopedia of parasitology. New York: Springer.

Mueller, G. M., Bills, G. F., & Foster, M. S. (2004). Biodiversity of fungi: Inventory and monitoring methods. Amsterdam: Elsevier Academic Press.