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Flashcards in Fungi Deck (14)
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1
Q

What are fungi?

A

Fungi (singular: fungus) are a kingdom of usually multicellular eukaryotic organisms that are heterotrophs (cannot make their own food) and have important roles in nutrient cycling in an ecosystem.

2
Q

With the advent of the five-kingdom system of biological classification, fungi were put into a single kingdom because of their: (2)

A
  • Similar ecological roles i.e. decomposers

- Similar anatomical and biochemical features

3
Q

What do recent studies that compare the sequence of amino acids in proteins from fungi, plants and animals show?

A

They show that fungi share a closer evolutionary relationship to animals than to plants as was originally thought.

4
Q

The fungal kingdom contains an estimated __ million fungal species, of which ___ species have been formally described by taxonomists.

A

1

70 000

5
Q

What is a taxonomist?

A

A person who classifies plants, animals and microorganisms into categories based on shared features

6
Q

Give 7 examples of fungi:

A
  • Yeasts
  • Rusts
  • Smuts
  • Mildews
  • Moulds
  • Mushrooms
  • Toadstools
7
Q

What are the general characteristics of fungi? (6)

A
  • Fungi are found everywhere, usually invisible to the naked eye
  • Fungi are mostly free-living, living in soil, air and dead organic matter
  • Fungi are heterotrophs
  • Some fungi live in symbiotic relationships with plants and animals
  • Most Fungi are useful as primary decomposers
  • Fungi can reproduce
8
Q

What do fungi feed on? (2)

A
  • They feed mostly on dead organisms and decaying organic matter
  • Some are parasitic and therefore feed on the host cell
9
Q

What is saprophyte?

A

Plant, fungus, or microorganism that lives on dead or decaying organic matter.

10
Q

Give an examples of the symbiotic relationship between fungi and plants and animals. (2)

A
  • Lichen, an association of fungi and algae. The fungi supplies the algae with water and minerals while the algae makes glucose that is absorbed by the cells of the fungi.
  • Mycorrhizae, the hyphae of fungus which associates with the roots of many kinds of plants
11
Q

Most fungi are useful; along with bacteria they are the primary ____ of dead organic matter. The environment is thus cleaned up and nutrients are recycled and ___ to the soil.

A

Decomposers

Returned

12
Q

How do fungi reproduce asexually?

A

Asexually by means of reproductive cells called spores

13
Q

How do fungi reproduce sexually?

A

When conditions are unfavourable by zygospores.

14
Q

True or False

Fungi cannot reproduce by budding or binary fission

A

False, Fungi can reproduce budding or binary fission.