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The fungal cell wall is made of a chitin-glucan complex; while glucans are also found in plants and chitin in the exoskeleton of arthropods, [36] fungi are the only organisms that combine these two structural molecules in their cell wall. Unlike those of plants and oomycetes, fungal cell walls do not contain cellulose. [37] [38]
Commensal fungi have ways to interact with the host immune response that, as of 2016, were not well understood. [20] Some pathogens produce chitin-binding proteins that mask the chitin they shed from these receptors. [21] [22] Zymoseptoria tritici is an example of a fungal pathogen that has such blocking proteins; it is a major pest in wheat crops.
Most true fungi have a cell wall consisting largely of chitin and other polysaccharides. [28] True fungi do not have cellulose in their cell walls. [16] In fungi, the cell wall is the outer-most layer, external to the plasma membrane. The fungal cell wall is a matrix of three main components: [16]
Chitin-glucan complex (CGC) is a copolymer (polysaccharide) that makes up fungal cell walls, consisting of covalently-bonded chitin and branched 1,3/1,6-ß-D-glucan. CGCs are alkaline-insoluble. Different species of fungi have different structural compositions of chitin and β-glucan making up the CGCs in their cell walls. [1]
The cell walls of the ascomycetes almost always contain chitin and β-glucans, and divisions within the hyphae, called "septa", are the internal boundaries of individual cells (or compartments). The cell wall and septa give stability and rigidity to the hyphae and may prevent loss of cytoplasm in case of local damage to cell wall and cell membrane.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to fungi and mycology: . Fungi – "Fungi" is plural for "fungus". A fungus is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes unicellular microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as multicellular fungi that produce familiar fruiting forms known as mushrooms.
Typical fungal cell wall structure. Zygomycetes exhibit a special structure of cell wall. Most fungi have chitin as structural polysaccharide, while zygomycetes synthesize chitosan, the deacetylated homopolymer of chitin. Chitin is built of β-1,4 bonded N-acetyl glucosamine. Fungal hyphae grow at the tip.
The cell wall consists of peptidoglycan in bacteria and acts as an additional barrier against exterior forces. It also prevents the cell from expanding and bursting from osmotic pressure due to a hypotonic environment. Some eukaryotic cells (plant cells and fungal cells) also have a cell wall.