Fungi Ch 31 BIO 1407

Mycorrhizae

A mutualistic association of plant roots and fungus

It has been hypothesized that fungi and plants have a mutualistic relationship because plants make sugars available for the fungi's use. What is the best evidence in support of this hypothesis?

Radioactively labeled sugars produced by plants eventually show up in the fungi with which they are associated.

Fungi have an extremely high surface-area-to-volume ratio. What is the advantage of this to an organism that gets most of its nutrition through absorption?

The larger surface area allows for more material to be transported through the cell membrane.

Glomeromycetes

arbuscular mycorrhizae

Deuteromycetes _____.

are the group of fungi that have, at present, no known sexual stage

Basidiomycetes

club fungi. mushroom.

Fossil fungi date back to the origin and early evolution of plants. What combination of environmental and morphological change is similar in the evolution of both fungi and plants?

colonization of land and loss of flagellated cells

Ascomycetes

cup or sac fungi

Which feature seen in chytrids supports the hypothesis that they diverged earliest in fungal evolution?

flagellated spores

When pathogenic fungi are found growing on the roots of grape vines, grape farmers sometimes respond by covering the ground around their vines with plastic sheeting and pumping a gaseous fungicide into the soil. The most important concern of grape farmers who engage in this practice should be that the _____.

fungicide might also kill mycorrhizae

In the United States and Canada, bats use one of two strategies to survive winter: They either migrate south, or they hibernate. Recently, those that hibernate seem to have come under attack by a fungus, Geomyces destructans (Gd), an attack that is occurring from Missouri to southern Canada. Many infected bats have a delicate, white filamentous mat on their muzzles, which is referred to as white-nose syndrome (WNS). The fungus invades the bat tissues, causes discomfort, and awakens the bat from its hibernation. The bat fidgets and wastes calories, using up its stored fat. The bat then behaves abnormally, leaving its cave during daytime in winter to search for food. Their food, primarily insects, is scarce during the winter, and the bats ultimately starve to death. Since 2007, it is estimated that up to one million bats have perished from WNS. The Gd mat on the fur of the bats should be expected to consist of _____.

hyphae

Some fungal species can kill herbivores while feeding off of sugars from its plant host. What type of relationship does this fungus have with its host?

mutualistic

Deuteromycetes

no known sexual stage, closer to animals than plants

If all fungi in an environment that perform decomposition were to suddenly die, then which group of organisms should benefit most, due to the fact that their fungal competitors have been removed?

prokaryotes

Lichen

symbiotic association between a fungus and a photosynthetic organism

The following figure depicts the outline of a large fairy ring that has appeared overnight in an open meadow, as viewed from above. The fairy ring represents the furthest advance of this mycelium through the soil. Locations A-D are all 0.5 meters below the soil surface. If the fungus that produced the fairy ring can also produce arbuscules, then which of the following is most likely to be buried at location "C"?

tree stump