Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
12
Aquatic Oömycetology: A New
Field of Futuristic Research
S. K. Prabhuji , Ashutosh Tripathi ,
Gaurav K. Srivastava , and Richa Srivastava
Abstract
Water moulds, particularly the aquatic oömycetes, form part of the rich
aquatic fungal fl ora of ponds and rivers and the soils of nearby areas. Class
Oömycota has orders like Lagenidiales, Leptomitales, Rhipidiales,
Peronosporales and Saprolegniales with their related families. Cellulose
containing cell walls, bifl agellate (dissimilar) zoospores, diploid life cycle
pattern and its algal affi nities have led to its taxonomic shifting from true
fungi to pseudo-fungi and were kept under Heterokontophyta (Kingdom:
Chromalveolata) with algae - the Stramenopiles. The Oömycota were once
classifi ed as fungi because of their fi lamentous growth and because they
feed on decaying matter like fungi. The cell wall of oömycetes, however, is
not composed of chitin, as in the fungi, but is made up of a mix of cellulosic
compounds and glycan. The nuclei within the fi laments are diploid, with
two sets of genetic information, not haploid as in the fungi. The free-swim-
ming spores, which are produced, bear two dissimilar fl agella, one with
mastigonemes; this feature is common in the chromists, as is the presence of
the chemical mycolaminarin, an energy storage molecule similar to those
found in kelps and diatoms. Thus, although oömycetes are in the minority as
heterotrophic chromists, they quite defi nitely belong with these other chrom-
ist groups. With its separate entity as a group of pseudo-fungi, oömycetes
need to be identifi ed as an individual branch of study called - 'Oömycetology'.
The investigations on higher fungi have moved forward at a constant pace
and are touching new heights; however, the scientifi c explorations and
advanced studies in the fi eld of water moulds (Oömycetology) are continu-
ously going down in general and in the Indian scenario in particular and
have arrived at the verge of extinction. Therefore, a special attention is
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