1. Diversity of Living Things
Fungi

2. Relationship
- Fungi have recently been recognized as evolutionarily closer to animals than plants.

3. Kingdom Fungi Characteristics
1) Cell wall made of chitin
2) Eukaryotic
3) Mostly multicellular but yeast are unicellular
4) Classified by how they reproduce
5) Heterotrophs

4. Kingdom Fungi Characteristics
Fungi are a special type of decomposer called a saprophyte.
They feed by extracellular digestion. They release digestive enzymes into their surroundings and then absorb the digested nutrients into their cells.

5. Kingdom Fungi Characteristics
Fungi must live on or near their food source. Examples include mushrooms, mould, and yeast.

6. Basic Structure Most fungi are multicellular.
The two main parts of fungi are:
1) Hyphae - a network of fine filaments that make-up the body of the fungi. Hyphae growing in different directions get different names.

7. Basic Structure
2) Mycelium - a branching network of hyphae that grow together underground.

8. Fungi Reproduction
Most fungi alternate reproducing sexually for one generation then asexually for the next generation.
Two types of asexual reproduction are:

9. Fungi Reproduction
1) Spores - can be produced by mitosis. Spores are windblown reproductive cells that can grow into a new organisms in a suitable environment.

10. Fungi Reproduction
2) Fragmentation - pieces of hyphae break off and grow into new mycelia (mycelium).

11. Fungi Reproduction

12. Fungi Reproduction
If the conditions are too hot or dry fungi use sexual mating to produce more genetically diverse spores.
Sexual formation or spores occurs when two haploid hyphae of opposite types, called mating strains + and - combine and fuse together to form a diploid zygospore.

13. Fungi Reproduction
Zygospores have a thick spore wall to protect them from unfavourable conditions.
A zygospore can develop into a new fungus.

14. Fungi Reproduction
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15. Classification of Fungi
There are four major groups of fungi, each having a different method of making sexually reproduced spores.
1) Zygospore fungi - bread mould

16. Classification of Fungi
2) Basidiospore or club fungi - mushrooms

17. Classification of Fungi
3) Ascospores or sac fungi
- truffles, powdery mildew
- single celled yeast

18. Classification of Fungi
4) Imperfect fungi with no sexual phase
- cheese mould, penicillin mould

19. Classification of Fungi
Fungi classification is changing rapidly with DNA analysis.

20. Importance of Fungus
The single most important function of fungi is to help recycle nutrients. They are decomposers in the carbon and nitrogen cycles.