Chapter 31- FUngi Flashcards
What are three key traits most fungi share?
Method nutrition is derived
heterotrophs
Forms multicellular filaments
How do fungi absorb nutrients?
secrete hydrolytic enzymes
What do enzymes excreted by fungi do? (2)
Breaks down complex molecules
Break down cell walls to absorb nutrients
What three roles can fungi act as?
Decomposers
Breaks down nonliving organic material
Parasites
Absorbs nutrients from living hosts
Mutualists
Absorbs from a host but reciprocates, like fungi in termites
What are the two most common body structure of fungi?
multicellular filaments- majority of fungi
yeast- single cells
Where do yeast cells live, and how does it get nutrients?
Inhabits moist environments like living tissue
Provides nutrients for said tissues
What do multicellular fungi form, and what does it possess?
hyphae
chitin
What is hyphae, what does it consist of, what is it divided into, and what does it allow?
network of tiny filaments
Consists of tubular cell walls surrounding the cell membrane
Divided into cells by septa (cross-walls)
Allows movement to new territory by growing hyphae
What does chitin do? (3)
strengthens hyphae
enhances absorption
prevents bursting as fungi absorbs water and nutrients through osmosis
What do septa possess?
possesses pores for large molecules to flow from cell to cell
What are coenocytic fungi, what does it consist of, and what does it result from?
fungi lacking septa
Consists of cytoplasmic mass with hundreds of nuclei
Results from repeated nucleic division with no cytokinesis
What is mycelium, and what two things does it do?
interwoven mass of fungal hyphae
Infiltrates the material that fungus feeds on
Increases surface-to-volume ratio to make feeding efficient
What do specialized hyphae allow?
fungi to feed on live animals
What is haustoria?
hyphae used to extract and exchange nutrients with plant hosts
What is mycorrhizae, and what do each side do?
mutalistic relationship between fungi and plant roots
Improves delivery of minerals to plants
Mycelial networks are more efficient than plant roots
Plants provide fungi with organic nutrients
What is ectomycorrhizal fungi?
forms sheaths of hyphae over roots and grow into the extracellular space of the root cortex
What is arbuscular micorrhizal fungi?
extend hyphae through the root cell wall and into tubes formed by invagination of the root cell plasma membrane
Why is mycorrhizae important? (3)
Helps in natural ecosystems and agriculture
Vascular plants rely on fungi for nutrients
Foresters plant seeds with fungi to promote growth
How do fungi reproduce? (4)
Propagate by producing vast numbers of spores
Sexually and asexually
Carried through wind or water
Germinate in moist place with food, producing a new mycelium
During sexual fungi reproduction, are they haploid or diploid?
Fungi nuclei and most spores are haploid
How does sexual fungi reproduction begin?
Begins when hyphae from two mycelia release pheromones- sexual signaling molecules
What happens after fungi release pheromones? (2)
If the mycelia are of different mating types, pheromones bind to one another and hyphae extend towards the pheromones
Hyphae meet and fuse
Why is mating of different mating types important?
contributes to genetic variation and prevents hyphae from fusing with genetically identical mycelium
What is plasmogamy?
union of cytoplasms of two-parent mycelia, which do not fuse right away
What is a heterokaryon?
Parts of the fused mycelium have coexisiting different nuclei
What is karyogamy, what does it undergo, and what does it produce?
haploid nuclei fuse, forming diploid cells
Undergoes meiosis to restore haploid condition
Produces genetically diverse sexual spores
How does asexual fungi reproduction begin?
Grows filamentous fungi producing haploid spores through mitosis
What is mold?
visible mycelia of asexual fungi that grows rapidly
What is a second method of asexual fungi reproduction, and how does it occur?
by growing yeast
Occurs through cell division and pinches of small bud cells off of a parent cell