Fungi

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Fungi

• 7th Grade

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Info on Fungi

• Can be food sources or ingredients
• Can also grow on spoiling food
• Can grow in damp places like a shower curtain.
• Scientists are not sure how fungi are related to
  other organisms
• Most fungi have many cells.

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Hyphae

• Threadlike tubes that produce enzymes for
  digestion.

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Feeding

• Most fungi are saprophytes
• They feed on dead or decaying material
• Some fungi are parasites and obtain their food
  directly from living things.

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Where they grow

• Grow anchored in soil like plants
• DONT make their own food
• They grow best in warm, humid places

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Reproduction

• Fungi can reproduce both sexually and asexually
• In asexual reproduction, cell division produces
  spores
• In sexual reproduction, the hyphae of two
  genetically different fungi of the same species
  produce spores that differ genetically from both
  parents.

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FUNGUS SPORES
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Fungi classification

• Classified into three groups based on spore
  forming structure.

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Club Fungi

• Produce spores in a club-shaped structure called
  a basidium.
• These are the fungi you would call mushrooms

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Club Fungi
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Basidium
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Sac Fungi

• Produce spores in a small, saclike structure
  called an ascus
• Yeasts can also reproduce by budding.
• Some examples of sac fungi are bread yeast and
  morel mushrooms.

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Sac Fungi
ASCUS
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Common Molds

• A zygospore fungus produces spores in a round
  case called a sporangium

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Imperfect Fungi

• Called imperfect because they have never been
  observed reproducing sexually or they only
  reproduce asexually.
• An example is penicillin

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Lichens

• Are organisms composed of a fungus and either a
  green alga or a cyanobacterium
• Can appear crusty, leafy, or grow upright.

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Why are lichens important?

• Can be an important food source for animals.
• Lichens help rocks weather, or break down
• Since lichens are sensitive, they help scientists
  monitor pollution levels.

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Mycorrhizae

• Some fungi form a hyphae network with plant roots
  called mycorrhizae.
• This may have allowed plants to move from water
  to land about 500 million years ago.

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Food sources

• Some fungi, such as cultivated mushrooms, are
  food sources.

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More info.

• Many fungi cause animal and plant diseases
• But they also produce antibiotics, such as
  penicillin, which can fight diseases.

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Fungi are important as decomposers, recycling
organic matter.