Chapter 22 Study Guide - Biology

What does a lichen consist of?

A symbiotic relationship between a fungus and a photosynthetic partner such as a green alga, or cyanobacterium, or both.

When hyphae grow, they form a mass called a what?

A tangled mass called a mycelium.

Do fungi... A) contain chlorophyll? B) have cell walls made of chitin? C) produce their own food?

A) No B) Yes C) No

How do fungi obtain nutrients?

All fungi obtain nutrients by secreting digestive enzymes that break down organic matter in their environment; then they absorb the decomposed molecules.

What are hyphae?

Each of the branching filaments (slender filaments) that make up the mycelium of a fungus; a nonreproductive filament of a fungus.

What features characterize fungi?

Fungi are heterotrophic, they have filamentous bodies, their cells contain chitin, they absorb their nutrients, and they exhibit nuclear mitosis.

How do fungi obtain food?

Fungi are not photosynthetic because they lack the green pigment known as chlorophyll. So they cannot make their own food from sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide as plants do. Like animals, fungi obtain their food from other organisms.

Fungi are important to an ecosystem as what?

Fungi break down and decompose dead plants and animals (Fungi decompose dead organic matter); they are an important resource recycler (decomposer).

How do fungi obtain energy?

Fungi obtain energy by breaking down organic material that they absorb from their environment.

How do fungi digest food?

Fungi secrete digestive enzymes that break down organic matter into nutrients which are absorbed by the fungus. Fungi digest their food by absorption (they absorb it externally); fungi digest organic matter outside their cells walls.

Chitin is found in fungi and in what else?

In the hard outer covering of insects.

What is an ascus?

It is a saclike, sexual reproductive structure in which haploid spores are formed; the spore sac where ascomycetes produce ascospores.

Most fungal spores are formed by what process?

Mitosis during asexual reproduction.

Give some examples of club fungi:

Mushrooms, toadstools, puffballs, jelly fungi, and shelf fungi.

What do fungi usually form symbiotic relationships with?

Plants, algae, and cyanobacterium.

Zygospores allow molds to do what?

Remain dormant (slowed down functions; deep sleep) until conditions are favorable for their spores.

What are sporangia?

Specialized sac, case, capsule, or other structure that produces spores; asexual, spore-producing structures in zygomycetes.

What structure is responsible for meeting the food requirements for the mushroom?

The hyphae which make up the mycelium.

What is the recognizable part of Amanita muscaria?

Their deadly, red cap.

What do mycorrhizae aid in?

They aid the growth of many commercially significant trees, such as pines, oaks, beeches, and willows; aid in the transfer of minerals from the soil to a plant.

The group of fungi that includes the molds that often grow on bread is the what?

Zycomycetes

Give some examples of fungus:

Zygomycetes, Ascomycetes, and Basidiomycetes (molds, yeasts, and mushrooms).

Fungi obtain food by ___________ organic matter.

breaking down

Are fungi heterotrophic or autotrophic?

heterotrophic

Lichens are able to carry out ___________ fixation.

nitrogen

A hypha is a long string of cells divided by what?

partial walls called septa

Lichens are sensitive to __________ such as sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere.

pollutants (air pollution)

Some mycorrhizae do not penetrate the host plant but rather wrap around the what?

the plant root

The common name given to unicellular ascomycetes is what?

yeast

What are some commercial uses for fungi?

~ Unicellular fungi called yeasts are useful in baking, brewing, and wine-making. ~ Other fungi provide the flavor and aroma of certain cheeses. ~ Many kinds of antibiotics, such as penicillin, are produced by fungi.