Fungi (11)

-fungi are found everywhere, usually invisible to the naked eye. -they are mostly free-floating living in soil, air or dead organic matter. -are heterotrophic -are saprotrophic, meaning they feed on dead organisms and decaying organic matter. They release a digestive enzyme to break down the organic matter into a form they can absorb called extracellular digestion. -some fungi are parasitic, getting their food from a living host cell. They can cause ill health like athletes foot and thrush in humans and rust in plants. -Some fungi live in symbiotic relationships with plants and animals, they live together. -Most fungi are useful, are the primary decomposers of dead organic matter.

Yeasts, rusts, smuts, mildews, moulds, mushrooms and toadstools.

A symbiotic relationship between fungi and algae.

A symbiotic relationship between fungus and plant roots.

-Asexually by means of reproductive cells called spores. -Sexually, when the conditions are unfavourable, by resistant zygospores. -By budding, e.g. the yeasts.

-Mostly multicellular, however there are unicellular species e.g. bakers yeast. -Multicellular fungi contains a mass of branched filaments, hyphae, enclosed by a rigid cell wall. A hypha is a tubular cell filled with cytoplasm. -The repeated branching of the hyphae forms a network, the mycelium, which is the vegetative (growing) body -Rhizoids is a short, thin filament found in fungi used for anchoring. -When fungus reproduces asexually it forms spore-producing bodies e.g. mushrooms or sporangia.