Mysterious Molds Mildews And Mushrooms The Kingdom Fungi Mysterious Molds Mildews And Mushrooms

Fungi are their own kingdom

Fungi are not plants They have a cell wall like plants, but….. Plants make their own food (sugars) from light Fungi are more like animals than like plants

Absorb food from plants or other substrates (things they grow on) Fungi Absorb food from plants or other substrates (things they grow on) They are Heterotrophs

Asexual (will look like a clone) Fungi Asexual (will look like a clone) Reproduce with spores or budding Sexual( most diverse) produce with spores/fruiting bodies Sexual reproduction gives the most diverse genes and increases the chance for survival.

Alexander Fleming Discovered a blue-green mold killed the staphylococcus in his lab. It was the antibiotic penicillin.

Some are Parasites! Dutch Elm Disease Athletes Foot

Yeasts are a type of fungus Yeasts grow by budding Yeasts are present almost everywhere Budding yeasts

Yeasts Do not make their own food with photosynthesis Use food and give off carbon dioxide (CO2) through respiration This is how yeast makes bread rise

Other types of fungi grow with hyphae Hyphae are strands that are much smaller than human hair. When you peel away bark from a dead, fallen tree, white hyphae are sometimes visible.

Mushrooms are another type of fungi Forest fungi have many ecological roles Diverse Plant pathogen Decomposer Food Source Tree/Plant helper Some Poisonous

Mushrooms Anatomy Cap Stipe Hymenium (gills, pores, teeth, smooth) We use these features to ID mushrooms

Conks Woody Sign of decay

Cups, Puffballs, Earthstars Kingdom Fungi is a diverse kingdom!

Microscopy Photographs