Fungi Flashcards
Why are fungi important in nature
They play an important role as decomposers
Why are fungi important to people
Food
Medicine
Plant growth
Which kingdom are fungi closest related to
Animals
What type of clade are fungi
Monophyletic
What do fungal cell membranes contain
Ergosterol
What do fungal cell walls contain
Chitin
Are fungi most haploid or diploid during their life cycle
Fungal cells spend the majority of their life’s as haploid cells with half their chromosomes
Do fungi produce sexually or asexually
Both, using spores
Why do fungi make good drug targets
Most major cell wall components of fungi are not found in plants or animals. This makes if easy for the immune system to recognise them.
How do fungal hyphae expand
They grow through elongation at the tip. This is done by a flow of vesicles that fuse to the membrane and deposit material for growth.
How do yeast cells reproduce
-binary fission (asexual reproduction)
-conjugation of different cells (sexual reproduction)
What is Arbscular mycorrhiza
They associate themselves with plant roots and fix nitrogen from the soil for the plants in return for the sugars the plants produce. They are very important in plant growth
Are Lichen autotrophs
No, all fungi are heterotrophs. Lichen have a symbiotic relationship with with a photosynthetic organisms. The lichen provide a suitable environment whilst the photosynthetic organisms provide photosynthetically fixed carbon as well as nitrogen
