Kingdom Fungi Flashcards
How do fungi eat?
They are heterotrophs and absorb nutrients from outside their bodies
How do fungi digest?
They use hydrolytic enzymes to break molecules down and can digest compounds from many sources, living or dead
What three major roles do fungi exhibit in the ecosystem?
Decomposers, parasitic, and mutualistic
Decomposer Fungi
Break down and absorb nutrients from nonliving organic material
Parasitic Fungi
Absorb nutrients from living hosts
Mutualistic Fungi
Absorb nutrients from hosts and reciprocate with actions that benefit the host
What are the most common morphology of fungi?
Multicellular filaments and single cells (yeasts)
Mycelium
Fungal body made up of hyphae that infiltrates the food source. Its structure maximizes surface-to-volume ratio, making absorption very efficient
Hyphae
Tiny filaments with tubular cell walls strengthened with chitin
What does chitin do for cells?
It’s a structural polymer that prevents cells from lysing due to osmotic pressure from nutrient absorption
How are hyphae divided most of the time?
They are divided into cells by cross walls called septa (septa have pores large enough to enable cell-to-cell movement of organelles)
What is different with the hyphae in coenocytic fungi?
They lack septa, and have hundreds or thousands of nuclei in a continuous cytoplasmic mass
Do hyphae grow in length or girth?
Length
Cytoplasmic Streaming
Since hyphae grow in length, this is the process they use to move materials to the tips
How do multicellular fungi colonize?
They aren’t motile but they colonize new territory through hyphae growth
Haustoria
Specialized hyphae that let fungi extract nutrients from plants
Arbuscules
Specialized hyphae that penetrate plant cell walls but not the cell membrane (used by mutualistic fungi)
Mycorrhizae
Means “fungus roots”
Mutually beneficial relationship between fungi and plant roots
Mycorrhizal fungi deliver phosphate ions and minerals to the plants, and plants supply organic nutrients to the fungi
What do phosphate ions and minerals from mycorrhizal fungi do for plants?
Increases the amount of surface area for absorption and may provide protection against pathogens
What are the two main types of mycorrhizal fungi?
Ectomycorrhizal and arbuscular
Ectomycorrhizal Fungi
Form sheaths of hyphae over the root surface and extend into the extracellular spaces of the root cortex
Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi
Extend arbuscules through the root cell wall and into tubes formed by invagination of the root cell plasma membrane
What types of plants are involved in mycorrhizal relationships?
Vascular plants
How do mycorrhizal fungi colonize soils?
Dispersal of haploid cells called spores
Does fungal reproduction occur sexually or asexually?
Both
Are fungal nuclei and spores diploid or haploid?
Usually haploid, although some species have diploid nuclei formed during sexual life cycles
What does sexual reproduction in fungi require?
Fusion of hyphae from different mating types
How do fungi signal which mating type they are?
By using pheromones (sexual signaling molecules)
Plasmogamy
The union of cytoplasm from two parent mycelia
Heterokaryon
A mycelium that contains coexisting, genetically different nuclei (during reproduction)