What are fungi?
1 Answer
Fungi is a taxonomic kingdom which contains saprophytic organisms which resembles plants as well as animals, yet are neither plant nor animals.
Explanation:
Fungi are multicellular saprophytic organisms. These organisms together with bacteria are the main force for decomposition on earth.
Fungi are eukaryotic organism having various cell organelles specialized to perform specific functions. they have many similarities with animals as well as plants, yet are different than animals and plants. example include fungi have cell wall (similar to plant cells) made up of chitin (similar to chitin found in exoskeleton of arthopods of animal kingdom), which makes the fungi different than plants and animals as it does not completely resembles to plant or animal.
Fungi is a very wide group which includes molds, mushrooms, yeasts, etc. most of the organisms are saprophytic and some lives in a symbiotic relationship with other organism. example include Mycorrhizal symbiosis between plants and fungi.
Fungi have following characteristics
- they obtain nutrients from the host using hyphae which can be either uninucleate and septate or multicellular and unseptate.
- lead a heterotrophic life style living on dead remains or derive nutrients from host by symbiosis.
- have a cell wall lacking cellulose and made up of chitin.
- fungi can reproduce both ways either by sexual or asexual ways.
- produces zoospores by forming spores.
- unicellular fungi divide asexually by binary fission.
