Kingdom Fungi Fungi are NOT plants Red algae Green algae Land plants Fungi Choanoflagellates Myxozoa Animals The ancestor of fungi is thought to have been a protist similar to the ancestor of animals Fungi are made of hyphal cells Hyphal Cells Hard walls made of CHITIN Tubular Grow at tips Hyphal growth This wall is rigidOnly the tip wall is plastic and stretches The hyphae form a mycelium mycelium Mycelium = extensive, feeding web of hyphae Mycelia have a huge surface area are the ecologically active bodies of fungi Fungi are Heterotrophic by Absorption Hyphal tips release digestive enzymes Dissolved products diffuse back into hyphae Product diffuses back into hypha and is used Nucleus hangs back and directs Fungi reproduce by spores Spores are reproductive cells *Sexual *Asexual Rhizopus Spores are formed Directly on hyphae Inside sporangia In fruiting bodies Amanita fruiting body Pilobolus sporangia Penicillium hyphae Rhizopus on strawberries Molds Rhizopus Molds Club Fungi - mushrooms mycelium fruiting bodies both consist of hyphae Fungal Ecology ECOLOGICAL ROLES: 1.Decomposers mostly of plants 2.Parasites mostly of plants 3.Mutualists mostly with plants Mycorrhizaes Mutually beneficial relationship between fungus plant Present on > 90% of plants