Fungi

Question 1

What are fungi?

Answer 1

Fungi (singular: fungus) are a kingdom of usually multicellular eukaryotic organisms that are heterotrophs (cannot make their own food) and have important roles in nutrient cycling in an ecosystem.

Question 2

With the advent of the five-kingdom system of biological classification, fungi were put into a single kingdom because of their: (2)

Answer 2

• Similar ecological roles i.e. decomposers

- Similar anatomical and biochemical features

Question 3

What do recent studies that compare the sequence of amino acids in proteins from fungi, plants and animals show?

Answer 3

They show that fungi share a closer evolutionary relationship to animals than to plants as was originally thought.

Question 4

The fungal kingdom contains an estimated __ million fungal species, of which ___ species have been formally described by taxonomists.

Answer 4

1

70 000

Question 5

What is a taxonomist?

Answer 5

A person who classifies plants, animals and microorganisms into categories based on shared features

Question 6

Give 7 examples of fungi:

Answer 6

• Yeasts
• Rusts
• Smuts
• Mildews
• Moulds
• Mushrooms
• Toadstools

Question 7

What are the general characteristics of fungi? (6)

Answer 7

• Fungi are found everywhere, usually invisible to the naked eye
• Fungi are mostly free-living, living in soil, air and dead organic matter
• Fungi are heterotrophs
• Some fungi live in symbiotic relationships with plants and animals
• Most Fungi are useful as primary decomposers
• Fungi can reproduce

Question 8

What do fungi feed on? (2)

Answer 8

• They feed mostly on dead organisms and decaying organic matter
• Some are parasitic and therefore feed on the host cell

Question 9

What is saprophyte?

Answer 9

Plant, fungus, or microorganism that lives on dead or decaying organic matter.

Question 10

Give an examples of the symbiotic relationship between fungi and plants and animals. (2)

Answer 10

• Lichen, an association of fungi and algae. The fungi supplies the algae with water and minerals while the algae makes glucose that is absorbed by the cells of the fungi.
• Mycorrhizae, the hyphae of fungus which associates with the roots of many kinds of plants

Question 11

Most fungi are useful; along with bacteria they are the primary ____ of dead organic matter. The environment is thus cleaned up and nutrients are recycled and ___ to the soil.

Answer 11

Decomposers

Returned

Question 12

How do fungi reproduce asexually?

Answer 12

Asexually by means of reproductive cells called spores

Question 13

How do fungi reproduce sexually?

Answer 13

When conditions are unfavourable by zygospores.

Question 14

True or False

Fungi cannot reproduce by budding or binary fission

Answer 14

False, Fungi can reproduce budding or binary fission.