biodiversity - protists and fungi

Question 1

kingdom protista

Answer 1

• eukaryotic
• extremely diverse: not a single evolutionary group
• unicellular to colonial to multicellular
• small (1 micron ) to large (30 meteres)
• motile to non-motile
• autotrophic to heterotrophic

Including:
1. animal like (protozoa- unicellular heterotrophs
2. fungi like ( moulds – slime and water moulds)
3. plantlike (algae – various unicellular and multicellular groups of autotrophs

Question 2

eukaryote

Answer 2

Cell containing discrete membrane-bound organelles and with a membrane-bound nucleus in which the DNA is organised into chromosomes.

Question 3

saprophytic

Answer 3

An organism, especially a fungus or bacterium, that lives on and gets its nourishment from dead organisms or decaying organic material. Saprophytes recycle organic material in the soil, breaking it down into in simpler compounds that can be taken up by other organisms.

Question 4

commensal

Answer 4

commensalism
An interaction between two species where one species benefits and the other is unaffected.

Question 5

mutualism

Answer 5

mutualism
Interaction between species where both species benefit.

Question 6

sexual reproduction

Answer 6

Reproduction involving the union of two haploid gametes to form a new diploid individual.

Question 7

asexual reproduction

Answer 7

Reproduction that does not involve the union of two gametes. It results in clonal offspring that are genetically identical to the parent and each other.

Question 8

lichen

Answer 8

A lichen is a composite organism that emerges from algae or cyanobacteria living among the filaments (hyphae) of the fungi in a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship.

Question 9

fungi

Answer 9

• Fungi are filamentous eukaryotes heterotrophs
• Mycelium secretes enzymes and other compounds (eg antibiotics)
• Most digest food extracellularly (saprophytic, parasiticcand symbiotic nutrition)
• Vegetative body is mycelium (made up of hyphae)
• Most have no flagellae
• Cell wall of chitin
• Dispersal by spores
• 5 major groups (only 3 covered - lichens, termitomyces, mycirrhiza)

Question 10

gamete

Answer 10

Sex cell (usually haploid) that unites with another to form a zygote. Isogametes are of the same size. When one gamete is larger than the other it is referred to as the female gamete or egg, and the smaller one is the male gamete or sperm.

Question 11

spore

Answer 11

Reproductive cell that can develop into a new individual without first fusing with another reproductive cell. (cf gamete) In plants and algae this includes the haploid cells produced from meiosis. In prokaryotes, protists and fungi this includes resting spores resistant to unfavorable conditions.

Question 12

mycelium

Answer 12

mass of fungal hyphae

Question 13

mycorrhizae

Answer 13

mycorrhiza (plural mycorrhizae)
Symbiotic association of a plant root and a fungus. When the fungus coats the root and grows between the cells it is termed ectomycorrhiza. When the fungus enters the living cells it is termed endomycorrhiza.