Classification

Domain: Eukarya- characterized by membrane bound organelles, circular DNA, absence of peptidoglycan, presence of introns, 80s ribosomes

Kingdom: Fungi- cell walls made of chitin, heterotrophic, dikaryon stage present in life cycle, digest then ingest, reproduce asexually or sexually by the alteration of generations or budding

 Source: WikiMedia Commons

Phylum: Basidiomycota- also known as "club fungi" produce fruiting bodies called basidiocarps, contain basidiospores that are characterized by four spores placed externally from a basidium, have a long dikaryon stage within life cycle.

Class: Agaricomycetes- produce fruiting bodies that we commonly refer to as mushrooms, very diverse and one of the most recognizable classes of fungi

Order: Agaricales- produce fruiting bodies that contain gills, the gills help increase the surface area which helps to maximize spore production.

Family: Amanitacae-in addition to previous characteristics spores that are produced are white in color.

Genus: Amanita- usually have pale colored gills, form endomychorrhizal relationships, some contain a bulb-like figure at the base of the stem called a volva, it looks as almost like the fruiting body broke out of the volva, spores are free from the stem of the plant

Species: Biosporangia- entire fruiting body is white, volva is usually buried underground, a chemical reaction occurs between the fruiting body and a KOH solution.

Similar Species: Amanita citrina, Amanita muscaria, Amanita phalloides, Amanita pantherina

 

Notice in the picture to the right,  a mushroom fruiting body is shown  (Agaricomycetes). 

The striated structures under the mushroom cap these structures are gills (Agaricales).

The gills that produce spores are white or pale in color. (Amanitacae).                                        

Source: Tom Volk Fungi

The spores are free from the stem of the plant and notice the cup-like or bulb-like part of the mushroom located at the base of the stem. This is the volva. (Amanita)

 

Notice the similarity between these two juvenile  fruiting bodies of two separate organisms. The organism on the left is Amanita citrina and the organism on the right is Amanita bisporigera. This helps to show just how hard it is to classify organisms. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a tree for the Kingdom of Fungi. Amanita bisporigera falls within the phylum Basidiomycota. Link to tree can be found here.

 

Below is a more in depth look at the phylum Basidiomycota. The bold face terms represent where Amanita bisporigera would fall within this tree. For simplicity some relationships have been omitted. Here is a link to the complete tree. The complete tree can also be found in a journal, Trends in Microbiology Vol. 17 Issue 11.  Pages 488-497.

 

Now that we know where Amanita bisporigera is within the fungal kingdom, we can check out and see where this fungus might live.

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