Fungi

Question 1

What is a hyphae?

Answer 1

A hyphae is a chain of connected cells which are thread like.

Question 2

What is mycelium?

Answer 2

Mycelium is a mass of hyphae.

Question 3

What is chitin? Where is it found? What is it made of?

Answer 3

Chitin are a structural polysaccharide that are found in the cell walls and are made of carbs.

Question 4

How do fungi feed?

Answer 4

Fungi feed through absorption because they are heterotrophic.

Question 5

What are the two classifications in which Fungi can come under?

Answer 5

• Parasitic - feed off living matter.

- Saprophytic - feed off dead matter.

Question 6

What is the main role of fungi?

Answer 6

Fungi is responsible for the breakdown and decay of organic matter.

Question 7

How do saprotrophs feed?

Answer 7

They feed of off carbon from decaying sources.

Question 8

How do parasites feed?

Answer 8

They absorb food from live hosts.

Question 9

What are the two types of parasitic fungi?

Answer 9

• Obligate

- Facultative

Question 10

What is a obligate parasite?

Answer 10

An obligate parasite is a type of fungi that lives on host but doesn’t kill them.

Question 11

What is a facultative parasite?

Answer 11

A facultative parasite is a type of fungi that kills the host and feeds on the remains.

Question 12

What is a lichen?

Answer 12

A lichen is an organism which is a combination of a fungus and is an alga.

Question 13

What is Rhizoid?

Answer 13

They provide extra surface area for absorption of the digested material (look similar to roots).

Question 14

What are stolons?

Answer 14

They are arial hyphen which allow rhyzopus to spread sideways.

Question 15

Describe the structure of rhizopus.

Answer 15

It consists of threadlike structures called hyphae which are tubular with no cross walls and are multi-nucleate and each nucleus is a haploid.

Question 16

How do Rhizopus reproduce asexually?

Answer 16

• Sporangiophores grow up from the substrate after a number of days.
• Cells within the sporangium divide by mitosis to produce spores.
• The sporangium dries out in the right conditions and open which releases many spores.
• Each spore will grow into a new hyphae and mycelium if it lands on a suitable substrate.

Question 17

How do Rhizopus reproduce sexually?

Answer 17

• Can only occur between a plus and a minus strain.
• When hyphae from opposite strains grow close to each other, swellings grow on both strains and touch each other.
• Crosswalls form to to produce gametangia.
• The walls of the gametangia dissolve and a number of fertilisations take place producing diploid zygote nuclei.
• A zygospore forms around these nuclei, whne conditions are suitable the zygospore germinates by meiosis.
• A hypha grows out of the zygospore and produces a sporangium at the tip.
• The sporangium opens and releases many haploid spores which grow into new individuals

Question 18

How does yeast reproduce asexually?

Answer 18

• The neuclus of a parent cell divides by mitosis. One of the daughter nuclei enters a small developing bud on the outside of the yeast cell.
• This bud can separate from the parent to become a new individual.
• In some cases, the bud does not separate, but itself can bud. In this way, long colonies of yeast can develop.

Question 19

Give an example of a beneficial fungai.

Answer 19

• Yeast – used to make bread and alcohols (Eg. wine and beer)
• Fungai – source of food (Eg. Mushroom)

Question 20

Give an example of a harmful fungai.

Answer 20

• Various crop attacking fungai (Eg. Corn and wheat)
• Various animal attacking fungai (Eg. Athletes foot or ringworm)
• Various fungai can spoil food (Eg. Rhizopus on bread)