The Fungi Kingdom
The fungi kingdom is a taxonomic kingdom, one of the 5: Animals, Plants, Protists, Monerans and Fungi. Mushrooms, molds, yeasts, rust, smut, lichen, mildew and blight make up this kingdom. They don't produce chlorophyll, which is found in plants and since they cannot produce their own food like plants through photosynthesis, fungi are considered heterotrophs. Fugus never reproduce by seeds, but instead by spores. They shoot spores into the air and the wind carries them to new food sources. Some fungi are called parasites because they eat dead and decaying organisms for food. Other fungi are called saprophytes feed on organisms that are still alive. Their cell walls are made of a material called chitin. They don't have stomachs to digest food like us, but they excrete enzymes and acids to breakdown food so they can absorb the nutrients. They obtain food by absorbing food through their hyphae. First, they begin growing on a food source. Next, the hyphae grow into the food source. Then, digestive chemicals ooze from the hyphae and int the food source. Finally, those chemicals break down the food into smaller molecules for the fungi to absorb.
All fungi:
- Are considered heterotrophs
- Are eukaryotic
- Reproduce by spores
All fungi:
- Are considered heterotrophs
- Are eukaryotic
- Reproduce by spores
Helpful Fungi Is:- Used as food (mushrooms)
- Used to make cheese (blue cheese) - Used to makes wine, beer and whiskey (yeast) - Used to make bread rise - Used to make soy sauce from soy beans - Used to break down materials and recycle wastes and dead organisms - Used to make certain drugs (penicillin) |
Harmful Fungi- Causes spoilage in food
- Can cause plant diseases - Can break down material like leather |
Types of Fungi
Mushroom - a mushroom is a fleshy, spore-bearing body of a fungus usually taking the form of a domed cap on a stalk with gills on the undersides of the cap. Mushrooms are typically used as food such as shitake mushrooms and portobello mushrooms. But there is also poisonous mushrooms like death caps and false morels that can cause death. So watch out with the mushrooms!
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Fungi are also decomposers, which may not seem like a lot but are an incredibly important part to an ecosystem. Plants and animals may grow tall and mighty, but when they die, who's gonna clean up the mess? It's the decomposers of course! Without them, could you even imagine how much grosser this place would be? Yuck!
< -- Here's a song on the importance of decomposers |
Info From:
project_mould.pub | |
File Size: | 2482 kb |
File Type: | pub |
(ABOVE) This is Project Mould, an in-class experiment we did to grow mould.