Evolution of plant and fungi(2) Flashcards
What are fungi and how do they acquire nutrients?
Fungi are heterotrophic eukaryotes that acquire their nutrients by absorption.
Most fungi are known as decomposers, acquiring nutrients by breaking down organic matter
What do the structure of a fungi consist of?
A fungus usually consists of a mass of threadlike filaments called hyphae, which branch repeatedly as they grow, forming a mycelium.
The symbiosis between fungi and plant roots, called ______.
The symbiosis between fungi and plant roots, called a mycorrhiza
What is the function of a mycorrhiza?
Mycorrhiza absorbs phosphorus and other essential minerals from the soil and makes them available to the plant.
This symbiosis was critical for plants colonizing land
What is fungal cell wall made of and where else can it be found?
Chitin, a strong, flexible nitrogen-containing polysaccharide.
Chitin is also found in the external skeletons of insects.
Explain reproduction in fungi.
Sexual reproduction involves mycelia of different mating types.
Hyphae from each mycelium release signaling molecules and grow toward each other.
When the hyphae meet, their cytoplasms fuse. This fusion of haploid hyphae produces a heterokaryotic stage containing nuclei from two parents.
After the nuclei fuse, meiosis produces haploid spores.
What kind of reproduction do spore-producing structures that arise from hyphae undergo?
Spore-producing structures that arise from haploid mycelia do not undergo heterokaryotic stage or meiosis but can produce asexually
What are imperfect fungi? Give examples.
Imperfect fungi use only asexual reproduction for spore production.
They include many species commonly called molds and yeasts.
How do yeast reproduce?
Yeasts reproduce asexually by cell division, often by budding-pinching off small “buds” from a parent cell.
What are the 5 classifications of fungi?
- Chytrids
- Zygomycetes
- Glomeromycetes
- Ascomycetes
- Basidiomycetes
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Which fungi is the only one with flagellated spores?
Chytrids, are the only fungi with flagellated spores.
Which means they are usually found in water, lakes, etc.
How are chytrids a beneficial symbiont?
Chytrids are beneficial symbionts that help to break down plant matter in the guts of animals such as sheep and cattle.
What is zygosporangium, which type of fungi is characterized by it?
Zygomycetes are characterized by their protective zygosporangium, where zygotes produce haploid spores by meiosis
Fast-growing moulds belong to which category of fungi?
Zygomycetes.
Glomeromycetes form a distinct type of mycorrhiza. Explain.
Glomeromycetes form a distinct type of mycorrhiza in which hyphae invade plant root cells, where they branch into tiny treelike structures known as arbuscules.
