Kingdom Fungi

Characteristics of Fungi

– Fungi are eukaryotic heterotrophs that have cell walls.

– Their cell walls contain chitin, a complex carbohydrate.

– Except for yeasts, all fungi are multicellular– Fungi are made up of thin filaments called

hyphae– Each hyphae is only one cell thick.

Characteristics of Fungi

– The bodies of multicellular fungi are composed of many hyphae tangled together into a thick mass called a mycelium.

How do Fungi get their food?

• Saprobes – secrete enzymes into dead organic matter and then absorb the nutrients from the decomposition

• Ex. Mushrooms/ bread mold

• Parasites – secrete enzymes onto things that are alive and absorb nutrients from the host

• Ex. Ringworm/ “Athlete’s Foot”

How do Fungi Reproduce?

– Most fungi reproduce both asexually and sexually.

– Asexually by spore formation

– Sexually by the fusion of primitive gametes

Structure and Function of Bread Mold

• Black bread mold, Rhizopus stolonifer, is a zygomycete. (Division Zygomycota)

• Black bread mold has three types of hyphae:• Rhizoids are rootlike hyphae that penetrate the bread's

surface.• Stolons are stemlike hyphae that run along the surface of

the bread.• Sporangiophores are strands of hyphae that support the

spore case

Rhizopus

Asexual Reproduction

Sexual Reproduction

FERTILIZATION

MEIOSIS

Life Cycle of a Black Bread Mold