fungi Flashcards
(22 cards)
where do fungi fit in
ancestral eukaryotes (APART FROM ANIMALS AND PLANTS)
Main characteristics of fungi
- mostly multicellular
- heterotrophic (NO PHOTOSYNTHESIS) get food from pulling it in (food-organisms)
- mostly terrestrial
- mostly decomposers
- cell wall made up of chitin (carbohydrate)
- reproduce sexually (spores) and asexually
- lack true roots, stems, and leaves
- some are edible while others are poisonous
what are fungi composed of
hyphae- elongated cells with nuclei that form a branching filament structure
What is septa
hyphae that are divided into individual cells via cell wall
under a microscope: will have sectioning
What is a mycelium
multiple hyphae forming a branching network of filaments
Where is the reproductive structure found on a fungi
cap: the top
Where are the spore-producing structures found
gills: under the top
Ascomycota
- sexual spores formed in sac-like ascus
- important to humans for fermentation, and food
- very diverse
yeast, truffles, morels, dutch elm disease, chestnut blight
Basidimycota
- produce mushroom-cap fruiting bodies
- mostly decomposers
- includes puffballs, and bracket fungi
Zygomycota
- mostly soil fungi
- includes bread and fruit moulds
- multinucleate hyphae
- non-septate
this is that white fuzzy stuff on strawberries
Chytridiomycota
- mostly decomposers
- some unicellular, some multicellular
- some have swimming spores
glomeromycota
all form symbiotic relationships with plant roots
extracellular digestion
- fungi digest food outside their bodies
- fungi grow beside or on their food source
- excrete digestive enzymes into surrounding environment, breakdown food into simpler molecules for hyphae
symbiosis in fungi
lichen: partnership between fungus and cyanobacteria, or green algae
fungus: provides structure, can digest and absorb nutrients and water and can protect from harsh conditions
cyanobacteria or algae produce sugar (food)
mycorrhizae: partnership between fungus and plant roots
fungus provides increased capacity for absorption of water and nutrients
plants produce sugar (food)
Reproduction
fungi reproduce asexually and sexually
reproduce sexually when resources are scarce, and do it through their spores
usually reproduce asexually and produces genetically identical organisms–faster and more efficient also bc there are no male/female
Sexual reproduction in fungi
- only undergone when conditions are harsh or resources are scarce
- no male or female fungi
- dimorphism: fungi ability to switch between unicellular yeast forms and multicellular filamentous growth forms in response to changing environmental cues
what are spores
adaptation to life on land
- ensure that species will disperse to new location
- each spore contains a reproductive cell that produces a new organism
- nonmotile
- dispersed by wind
what are spores made out of?
- dehydrated cytoplasm
- protective coat
- haploid cell (amount of DNA)
- wind, animals, water, and insects spread spores
- spores germinate when they land on a moist surface: new hyphae form
types of asexual reproduction
fragmentation: part of the mycelium becomes separated and begins a life of its own
budding: a small cell forms and gets pinched off as it grows to full size (USED BY YEASTS)
asexual spores- production of a spores by a single mycelium
Spores in club like structures is a characteristic of which fungal Phylum?
basidiomycota
what produces spores
gills
purpose of spores in fungi
- produced by gills
- asexual reproduction
- sexual reproduction
