Talk:Trichophyton

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Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 11:43, 17 January 2022 (UTC) == Are trichophyton fungi a type of mold? ==odu[reply]

Untitled

They are dermatophytes, but are they molds? The Transhumanist 19:48, 21 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

What phylum do they belong to? The Transhumanist 20:25, 21 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Mold is a term that isn't monophyletic but refers to growth as hyphae. The Trichophyton article says they have hyphae. This being semantics, I'm a little wary, but it seems like a QED to me.

The article also says "Division" Ascomycota. "Division" is a botany term for phylum; what seems jarring is to see it used in the context of fungi, since we think of them as an offshoot of the animals, but there's no accounting for tradition. According to Phylum even the botanists have started to switch away from "division" now. Wnt (talk) 20:47, 21 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

That's because the ICN covers "algae, fungi, and plants", in part for historical reasons [1]. As I understand it, there was a recent (2012 and ongoing) dust-up between the mycologists and botanists about how to refine the naming conventions. I agree with your assessment that it's a mold by convention, but that term is a little silly. We don't call common button mushrooms molds, but of course they have plenty of hyphae too. It's safest for OP to say it's a fungus, or an Ascomycote if more specificity is needed.SemanticMantis (talk) 22:52, 21 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Not only are they all fungi, they're in the same taxonomical family, making them about as close terminologically as the Canidae which includes all the dogs, wolves, jackals and foxes. (Such comparisons at a distance are a bit subjective, but it gives you an idea of their closeness.

μηδείς (talk) 23:41, 21 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

"Dermatophyte" is not a taxon. It has no rank, nor has any basis in phylogenetic relationships. It's simply a general term referring to a certain type of organisms that inhabit a certain environment, or look or behave in a certain way. In this case it's a medical categorization of fungi that infect the skin. Similar terms include epibiont, epiphyte, ectoparasite, plankton, anaerobe, nekton, etc., and yes mold.

If you are questioning the "-phyte" suffix, fungi are simply traditionally studied along with plants under botany. Since the traditional perception was that all non-motile and sessile organisms were "plants". This is why they are still somewhat treated similarly and are subject to ICN (rather than ICZN), as mentioned, despite evolving from very different "branches" altogether.

Phylogenetically, fungi are only distantly related to plants. True fungi are opisthokonts (and unikonts) and thus belong to the same branch as animals; while plants are archaeplastids (and bikonts), belonging to the same clade (though still separate branches) as dinoflagellates, ciliates, and foraminiferans (which were once considered "animals"). There are exceptions: water molds (oomycetes) are possibly under Hacrobia or the SAR supergroup (previously Chromalveolata), which is still within the Plants+HC+SAR megagroup; while slime molds (myxogastrids) are under Amoebozoa (again, a completely separate branch from both animals and plants).

As for the second question, all dermatophytes in that article are under the Phylum/Division Ascomycota (ascomycetes)-- OBSIDIAN†SOUL 08:30, 22 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

LOL I didn't realize the question was simpler. Didn't read title, thus misread context. But yes. The only criteria for being called a mold is that their body form consists of multicellular "threads" (hyphae) rather than solitary cells (in which case they are known as yeasts). Trichophyton, like other dermatophytes only exhibit the hyphae form. -- OBSIDIAN†SOUL 09:00, 22 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

@Obsidian Soul:No worries. I took the liberty of un-striking your response, I hope you don't mind. Sure, it's a little tangential, but it is still a very good summary of some of the background classification, and it has lots of good relevant links. So I think it deserves to be more easily read :) Also, the idea that we strive for monophyletic groupings and that polyphyletic or paraphyletic should be avoided can always bear to be repeated. SemanticMantis (talk) 14:18, 22 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Found relevant coverage on WP at Mold health issues#Fungal infection. The Transhumanist 10:44, 25 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Lifecycle - omission

The lifecycle of this fungus is missing from the article. Eg how long does it take new fungus, developing from spores, to become 'adult' and able to produce spores of their own? FreeFlow99 (talk) 14:56, 30 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]