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What is fungi's role in decomposition?
- more important in breaking down wood (lignin)
- cycle nutrients and CO2
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List the five phyla of fungi.
- chytridiomycota
- zygomycota
- glomeromycota
- ascomycota
- basidiomycota
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What is a chemo-heterotroph?
an organism that obtains energy from the oxidation of organic compounds.
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How does fungi decompose organic matter?
secretes exoenzymes for external digestion and absorbs simple organic molecules
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What does fungi digest from plants and animals?
- plants: cellulose and lignin
- animals: chitin and keratin
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What are the cell walls of fungi made of?
chitin.
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What are the bodies of fungi mostly composed of?
Hyphae
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What are hyphae?
- delicate tubes surrounding cytoplasm
- interwoven=mycelium (acts as feeding network)
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What is mycelium?
a bunch of interwoven hyphae that act as a feeding network.
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What are the two main types of hyphae?
- septate- cross walls that divide cells into separate chambers.
- coenocytic-no cross walls, continuous cytoplasm with lots of nuclei
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How are spores produced?
- sexual and asexual (depending on species)
- meiosis and mitosis
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Spores in fungi vs. plants
spores act as dispersal stage
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Phylum Chytridiomycota
- usually freshwater, moist soil, and guts of animals.
- digest dead matter
- can be parasitic
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Phylum Zygomycota
- live in soil and organic remains
- not usually parasitic
- (bread mold)
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Phylum Glomeromycota
- symbiotic relationship with root plants
- supply minerals and nutrients to roots
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Phylum Basidiomycota
- classic mushrooms (sexual structure)
- sexual and asexual
- important decomposers
- parasitic to plants
- lined with "gills" under cap lined with basidia (spore production)
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Molds
- asexual
- produce fuzzy hyphae
- can by zygo, asco or basidio
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Yeasts
- unicellular
- liquid or moist environments
- pinches off from parent cell
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Mycorrhizae
- mutualisim between roots and fungi
- -not just fungi
- helps plant absorb minerals, fungus gets carbohydrates
- glomero, zygo, asco and basidio
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Lichens
- mixture of hyphae and a photosynthetic partner
- 90% asco, rest basidio
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What causes "fairy rings"?
the outward growth of hyphae, mushroom grows out of and leaves ring once dead.
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What role do lichens play?
breakdown solid rock by producing carbonic acid creating soil and allowing new plant life.
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What are endolithic lichens?
grow under surface of rock except for the fruiting body
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What is the difference between ecto and endo mycorrhizae?
- ecto-hyphae penetrates roots but not cells, occurs in birch, conifer and willow
- endo- hyphae penetrate cells
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