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Fungi - Characteristics

Fungi are eukaryotic organisms that lack vascular tissue and chlorophyll. They range from unicellular microorganisms to multicellular organisms with filamentous structures called hyphae. Hyphae make up the mycelium, which is important for nutrient absorption. Fungi reproduce both sexually and asexually through spores. They play an important role in decomposition and have symbiotic relationships with plants.

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57 views1 page

Fungi - Characteristics

Fungi are eukaryotic organisms that lack vascular tissue and chlorophyll. They range from unicellular microorganisms to multicellular organisms with filamentous structures called hyphae. Hyphae make up the mycelium, which is important for nutrient absorption. Fungi reproduce both sexually and asexually through spores. They play an important role in decomposition and have symbiotic relationships with plants.

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Mc 'Rage
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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What is Fungi? What are their characteristics?

The word fungus comes from the Latin word for mushrooms. The familiar mushroom is a reproductive
structure used by many types of fungi. However, there are also many fungi species that don’t produce
mushrooms at all. Being eukaryotes, a typical fungal cell contains a true nucleus and many membrane-
bound organelles. The kingdom Fungi includes an enormous variety of living organisms collectively
referred to as Ascomycota, or true Fungi.

- They are non-vascular organisms. They do not have vascular system. Xylem and Phloem are
absent.
- They are typically non-motile.
- Fungi are unicellular or multicellular thick-cell-walled heterotroph decomposers that eat
decaying matter and make tangles of filaments.
- Most fungi grow as tubular filaments called hyphae. An interwoven mass of hyphae is called a
mycelium.
- The walls of hyphae are often strengthened with chitin, a polymer of N-acetylglucosamine.
- The linkage between the sugars is like that of cellulose and peptidoglycan and produces the
same sort of structural rigidity.
- Fungi are more closely related to animals than plants. Fungi are not capable of photosynthesis:
they are heterotrophic because they use complex organic compounds as sources of energy and
carbon.
- Fungi like to be in a moist and slightly acidic environment; they can grow with or without light or
oxygen
- Some fungal organisms multiply only asexually, whereas others undergo both asexual
reproduction and sexual reproduction with alternation of generations.
- Fungi disperse themselves by releasing spores, usually windblown. Fungal spores are present
almost everywhere (and are a frequent cause of allergies). Spores of the wheat rust fungus have
been found at 4000 m in the air and more than 1450 km (900 miles) from the place they were
released. No wonder then that most fungi are worldwide in their distribution.
- Fungi are heterotrophic
- Some live as saprophytes, getting their nourishment from the surroundings (often having first
digested it by secreting enzymes). They perform a crucial role in nature by decomposing dead
organisms and releasing their nutrients for reuse by the living.
- Some live in a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship with another organism, often a plant.
The association of fungus and plant root is called a mycorrhiza. Some 80–90% of land plants
benefit from symbiotic mycorrhiza.
- The plant benefits by more-efficient mineral (chiefly nitrates and phosphates) uptake.
- The fungus benefits by the sugars and other nutrients (e.g., lipids) translocated to the root by
the plant.

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