Fungi Cells:Name:__________________________ What are fungi? Mushrooms are common fungi. The yeasts used to make some breads and cheeses are a type of fungus. Fungus may grow on a loaf of bread or on your shower curtain. (mold) Some fungi can even grow on humans. (athlete’s foot, ringworm) How did fungi evolve? Some fossils of fungi have been found, but they do not help scientists determine how fungi are related to other organisms. Some scientists hypothesize that fungi share an ancestor with ancient, flagellated protists and slime molds. Other scientists hypothesize that their ancestor was a green or red alga. Fungi used to be classified with protists. Grow and Develop: What characteristics do fungi share? Some fungi grow anchored in soil and have a cell wall around each cell. Fungi do not have specialized tissues and organs such as leaves and roots. Fungi do not have chlorophyll and do not make their own food (no photosynthesis). Fungi grow best in warm, damp areas, such as tropical forests or between toes. In a fungus cell though, the cell walls are made up of the same material that goes into the outer shell of a crab, whereas the cell walls of plants are made of cellulose, a type of carbohydrate that plants make (kind of like a sugar). Fungi is grouped based on how it reproduces. One group is the mushrooms that we commonly see and eat. Another is the morels, truffles, and yeast which reproduce using sac‐like structures. The third one is the molds that reproduce with small structures that produce spores. And the final one is the microscopic fungi that were once classified with protists. These particular fungi can be found in the digestive tract of cows and help digest the grasses that cows eat. 1.Identify two similarities between fungi and plants.  _____________________________________________________________________________ 2.Identify two differences between fungi and plants.  _____________________________________________________________________________ What makes up a fungi? Fungi are multicellular eukaryotes (many celled and has a nucleus). A fungus is neither a plant nor an animal. It is similar to a plant, but it has no chlorophyll and cannot make its own food like a plant can through photosynthesis. The body of a fungus usually is made up of many-celled threadlike tubes called hyphae (HI fee). The figure to the right shows the inside structure of hyphae. Use and Obtain Energy: How do most fungi get energy? Hyphae produce enzymes that help break down food that the fungus absorbs from another organism. Most fungi are Hetertrophs, (they get food by absorbing dead or decaying tissues of other organisms). The fungi pushes the enzyme out the Hyphae, the enzyme digest the food (living or dead), and then the Hyphae absorbs the liquid nutrients back up.

Reproduction: How do fungi reproduce? Fungi reproduce both asexually and sexually. For both types of reproduction, fungi produce spores. A spore is a water proof reproductive cell that can grow into a new organism. In asexual reproduction, the cells divide to produce spores. These spores grow into new fungi that are genetically identical to the fungus from which the spores came. The process of creating a spore is similar to mitosis in plants and animals except that fungi mitosis happens inside the nucleus (the nucleus never disappears). As we discussed in class yeast reproduce asexually in a process similar to binary fission called budding. This process is when the yeast cell sprouts a little bump that grows bigger and eventually separates from the yeast cell. The bud is an exact copy of the original cell. Fungi are not identified as either male or female. For sexual reproduction to take place, the hyphae of two genetically different fungi of the same species grow close together and share chromosomes. A new fungi spore is created that is genetically different from the two original hyphae. Why are fungi called nature’s recyclers? Fungi’s most important role is as decomposers. Fungi break down, or decompose, organic material such as food scraps and dead plants and animals. As these materials decompose, they release chemicals into the soil, where plants can reuse them. Fungi, along with bacteria, are nature’s recyclers. They keep Earth from becoming buried under mountains of organic wastes. 3. How do fungi get its energy? _____________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ 4. How does fungi help keep Earth clean? _____________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ 5. What is one difference between plant/animal mitosis and fungi mitosis? _______________________________________________________________________________________ 6. What are the two types of asexual reproduction for fungi? _______________________________________________________________________________________ Adapt One adaptation for fungi is the ability to put out enzymes, which digest its food outside of the fungi. It them absorbs the digested material back into itself. Another adaptation is the fungi’s ability to survive in a wide range of environments. Such environments include deep down in the ocean, lakes, rocks, deserts, very salty environments, and areas of extremely high or low temperatures. Some can prevail even after being exposed to intense radiation from our sun as one would encounter during space travel. Define: Eukaryote: _____________________________________________________________________________ Multicellular:___________________________________________________________________________ Hetertrophic:___________________________________________________________________________