Fungi are eukaryotic or prokaryotic creatures that lack chlorophyll and are generally multicellular. We are continually exposed to fungi through the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink since there are thousands of distinct types of fungi that share our environment. Yeasts, rusts, smuts, mildews, moulds, and mushrooms are all included in this category.
Fungi were thought to be the first to evolve from Protists following the evolution of Monerans and Protists. In the Kingdom Fungi, there are roughly 100000 species. Fungi’s definition, characteristics, types, and importance have all been thoroughly discussed in this article.
Fungi
Mushrooms are present in nature, whereas wine and beer are definitely human-made beverages. The majority of individuals aren’t really interested in rotting organisms. All of these examples, however, have one thing in common: the kingdom Fungi.
Fungi is a vast kingdom that includes organisms that are neither plants nor animals. Eating mushrooms and creatures like yeast, which makes our bread rise and ferments our beer and wine, are examples of these rare multicellular eukaryotes. And as decomposers, their impact on our environment is critical to every ecosystem.
Characteristics of Fungi
Fungi, as previously said, comprises a diverse range of living species. Hundreds of thousands of fungal species are thought to exist on the planet, according to scientists. Fungi were once assumed to be little more than rudimentary forms of plants. Further discoveries, however, led to the realisation that fungi were distinct enough to warrant their own kingdom. Let’s take a look at some of these species’ most prevalent traits.
Members of the kingdom Fungi are eukaryotes, which means they have nuclei and organelles in their cells. With the exception of single-celled yeast, the majority are multicellular. Fungi are made up of individual feathery filaments called hyphae that make up its structure.
The hyphae merge to create the mycelium, which is a clump of hyphae. When you cut into a mushroom, you may notice that it has a spongy texture. This is due to the fact that it is made up of a mass of very closely packed hyphae and so is not completely solid.
Fungi are all heterotrophic, which means they don’t produce their own food like plants do. They, like humans, must eat other species to survive.
Thallus Organisation
A thallus is the plant body of true fungus. It could be mycelial or non-mycelial. Non-mycelial forms are single-celled. Budding, on the other hand, may result in the formation of a pseudo mycelium. The plant body in mycelial forms is made up of thread-like structures called hyphae.
Cell Organisation
Chitin and cellulose make up the majority of fungi’s cell walls. Chitin is a N-acetyl glucosamine polymer. On the other hand, cellulose is nothing more than a d-glucose polymer. Furthermore, cellulose-glycogen, cellulose-chitin, or polyglucosamine-galactan may be used to make the cell wall.
Nutrition
The organisms are achlorophyllous fungus. As a result, they are unable to make their meals. They exist as parasites and saprophytes, respectively. Some green organisms coexist with other green forms in a symbiotic relationship.
Parasites
Food is normally obtained from a living host. It’s possible for a parasite to be either facultative or obligatory. Throughout their lives, obligatory parasites survive and settle on a living host. Saprophytes that have turned parasitic are known as facultative parasites.
Saprophytes
The dead and decaying organic stuff provides food for these organisms. Saprophytes are classified as either obligatory or facultative. An obligatory saprophyte is a saprophyte for the rest of its existence. A facultative saprophyte, on the other hand, is nothing more than a parasite that has evolved into a saprophyte.
Classification of Fungi
Phycomycetes
These can be found in aquatic situations as well as on decaying wood in moist and humid environments. The mycelium is coenocytic and aseptate. Asexual reproduction occurs via zoospores (motile) or aplanospores (asexual) (non-motile).
Rhizopus/ Mucor
They are cosmopolitan and saprophytic fungi that feed on decomposing organic materials. On moist bread, Rhizopus stolonifer is particularly common. As a result, they’re known as black bread moulds.
Albugo
Albugo belongs to the Phycomycetes family. It’s an obligatory parasite that lives in the intercellular gaps of its host’s tissues. It mostly feeds on members of the Cruciferae, Compositae, Amaranthaceae, and Convolvulaceae families. White rust or white blisters are the symptoms of this fungus. Albugo candida is the most common and well-known species. It is a mustard family member that it attacks.
Ascomycetes
Saprophytic, decomposers, parasitic, or coprophilous, they are all types of organisms (growing on dung). Aspergillus, Claviceps, and Neurospora are some examples. Neurospora is widely used in biochemical and genetic research.
Yeast
In 1680, Antony Von Leeuwenhoek published the first description of yeast. Yeast is a non mycelial or unicellular organism that is very tiny and shaped spherically or ovally. Although individual cells are colourless, colonies can be white, red, brown, creamy, or yellow in appearance. Yeast reproduces in a variety of ways, including vegetative, asexual, and sexual reproduction.
Basidiomycetes
Puffballs, mushrooms, and bracket fungi are the most prevalent basidiomycetes. Rusts and smuts, for example, grow in soil, on logs and tree stumps, and as parasites in living plant bodies. They have septate and branching mycelium.
There are no sex organs in these creatures. Plasmogamy, on the other hand, occurs when two vegetative or somatic cells of different strains or genotypes fuse.
Conclusion
Fungi are one of the most diverse and omnipresent living entities, according to this article. They are achlorophyllous, and their nourishment is both absorptive and heterotrophic. Plants and animals are the ones who suffer the most.
Some have a significant economic impact and are even consumed. Some forms have a beneficial relationship with other living organisms and mutually benefit. We also talked about its characteristics here.