common characteristics of fungi

7/29/2019 Common Characteristics of Fungi

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FUNGI


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The non-motile cells belong to the kingdom Fungi.

The cell walls of these non-motile cells are made of chitin.

Fungi are heterotrophic organisms. The only difference between otherheterotrophic animals and fungi is that fungi digest and then ingest thefood. Fungi releases enzymes on the body of the other living things andthrive on them.

There is no embryonic stage for fungi. A fungus develops from spores,and are both sexual and asexual.

Some fungi are:


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Though most of the fungi are single cellular, most of the fungi species

grow as multi-cellular filaments called hyphae. The hyphae form amycelium.

An interesting characteristic of fungi is that like a plant, fungi too havean alternation of generations.

The cytoplasmic ultrastructure of fungi is similar to plant cells. However,they differ significantly in their structures and their organelles.

The fungi store their food in the form of glycogen.


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Fungus is not dependent on light and can grow in anydirection. They have the ability to invade the interior of asubstrate with absorptive filaments. Some argue that afungus belongs to the animal kingdom, while there are somewho think fungi should belong to plants. However, therecent molecular evidence suggests fungi are closely relatedto animals than to the plants.


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Chytridiomycotacan be found all over the world and are commonly known as chytrids. Thename is derived from the Greek wordchytridion, meaning 'little pot', whichrefers to the pot-like structure that contain the unreleased spores.

Types of Fungi


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Blastocladiomycotawere initially a part of the clade that constituted the phylumChytridiomycota. However, recently on the basis of the results ofmolecular data and characteristics of their ultrastructures, they are placedas a sister clade to Zygomycota and Glomeromycota.


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NeocallimastigomycotaInitially Neocallimastigomycota also belonged to the Chytridiomycotaphylum. The species of fungi that belong to this phylum are generallyfound in the digestive system of the herbivorous animals and they areanaerobic, i.e. they can thrive in the absence of oxygen.


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ZygomycotaMost of the fungi belonging to the phylum Zygomycota are saprobes.They are commonly known as sugar or pin molds. They can reproduceboth sexually and asexually.


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GlomeromycotaThis phylum contain approximately 200 species of fungi, which mainlyreproduce asexually. They mainly draw nutrition from the plants and formarbuscular mycorrhizas with the higher plants.


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Ascomycotaare also known as sac fungi. It is the largest phylum of fungi, that containmore than 30,000 species. They exhibit sexual mode of reproduction andproduce ascospores in a sac like structure called ascus.


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BasidiomycotaThe members of the phylum basidiomycota are also called club fungi orbasidiomycetes. They produce basidiospores for the purpose ofreproduction.

common characteristics of fungi

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