Ch 20: Fungi (Exam 2) Flashcards
What is the primary function of Fungi in ecosystems?
-fungi break down dead plants and animals (decomposition) releasing inorganic nutrients and recycling them to plants
-also could help plants absorb minerals and fight diseases
How do plant cells and fungal cells differ in terms of their structure (organelles) they contain?
Plant Cells-they can carry out photosynthesis, maintain their shape with cell wall, have chloroplasts and chlorophyll
Fungal Cells-they cant carry out photosynthesis, they have a cell wall but it is made out of chitin material, and they do not have chloroplasts or chlorophyll like plant cells
How are Fungi and Animals similar ecologically?
they are both Eukaryotic and heterotrophic organisms
Categorize Yeast
yeast is single-celled and a heterotroph
How are Dikaryotic cells formed during reproduction in Ascomycete Fungi?
some fungi have a dikaryotic stage, which forms when cells of two different individuals unite, but the nuclei from the two parents remain separate
Explain the role of Hyphae and relate to the term “Mycelium”
Hyphae-are microscopic, threadlike filaments
-hyphae branch rapidly within a food source, releasing digestive enzymes and absorbing nutrients at their tips
-a MYCELIUM is a mess of aggregated hyphae that may form visible strands in soil or decaying wood
Explain how Fungi are classified into different Phyla
-it depends on how the fungus reproduce sexually-distributed by spore type
5 Phyla:
CHYTRIDIOMYCETES-(earliest fungi) produce gametes and asexual spores within flagella-there body forms vary from single cells to slender hyphae-produce zoospores
ZYGOMYCETES-(1% of identified fungi) they produce asexually when haploid hyphae produce spore sacs that release haploid spores-produce thick walled sexual zygospores
GLOMEROMYCYTES-(smallest group of fungi) do not reproduce sexually at all-they produce asexually and have LARGE asexual spores-can not survive with out the presence of plant roots
ASCOMYCETES-(largest group of fungi) produce and enormous number of sexual and asexual spores -spore types are ascospores in ascus and conidia
BASIDIOMYCETES-(include familiar representatives such as mushrooms, puffballs, birds nest fungi, etc) can produce asexually and sexually, with the sexual portion being more prominent-have basidiospores on basidium and conidia
How can fungi use leaves as a food source, given the cellulose-based walls in the leaf tissue?
because they can secrete enzymes that degrade cellulose, chitin, and keratin
Explain how Chytridiomycetes are causing global declines in amphibian populations
-because some chtrids feed on keratin in frogs skin, in-paring the animals ability to breath through its body surface-releases zoospores
Explain why yeast infections can develop during treatments for bacterial infections using antibiotics
-broad spectrum antibiotics will kill a range of bacteria, also killing healthy bacteria in your vagina, leading to overgrowth of yeast
Explain the benefit of mycorrhizae to plants
-the plant benefits by receiving a share of the water and minerals acquired by its partners extensive hyphal network
Identify the organisms which form a symbiotic relationship in a lichen and explain the benefit of the relationship to each species
Symbiotic relationship in lichen=fungus and green algae or cyanobacteria
Fungus-absorbs water and essential minerals
Green Algae and Cyanobacteria-contributes carbohydrates
