Lecture 9: Fungi Intro Flashcards
mycology is the
branch of biology that deals with fungi.
how are fungi similar to plants
- grow on / in substrate
- cell wall (metazoans lack)
- non-motile (except for some flagellated spores)
how are fungi similar to animals
- trophic level (not producers, must use external food sources)
- have chitin
how many major multicellular groups within the domain Eukaryota are there ?? name them
3
plantae
animalia
KINGDOM FUNGI
how is fungis diversity described
Hyperdiverse: morphology, habitats, life styles, complexity, size
are fungi well understood & studied
no. 100,000 described species.
Estimated number of species ranges 0.8-5.1 million (2-12% already described)
Diversity of most fungal groups peaks where?
in tropical ecosystems (but not all - ectomycorrhizal fungi and some other classes are more diverse in temperate or boreal ecosystems
diversity is positively correlated with
mean annual precipitation (MAP) and soil acidity and calcium content
fungi can even be found in
SPACE. Diverse habitats
how much do fungi diverse in size
range from single cell fungi e.g. Yeasts 3-4 micrometers long
to the largest organism on earth: Armellaria ostoyae (Honey fungus) 4 square miles (1,665 football fields) 2400-8650 years old
diverse lifestyles:
examples
- Saprotrophs (ugly..some of them)
- Symbionts (good)
- Parasites & pathogens (bad)
IT is estimated that __ of plants engage with mycorrhizae
90%
mycorrhizae increases
- mineral nutrition
- water absorption
- growth
- disease/parasite resistance
what % of fungal pathogens currently destroy enough food annually to feed 600M people
8.5%
% of fungal pathogens that could destroy enough food for 4300M people
61%
