Directed Reading
SECTION: CHARACTERISTICS OF
FUNGI
1. heterotrophic
2. chitin
3. The bodies of fungi are made up of long,
slender filaments that are woven together.
4. An imperfect fungus is one that does not have
an observed sexual stage.
5. Hyphae are the slender filaments that make
up the bodies of fungi.
6. A mycelium is a tangled mass of hyphae
formed when hyphae grow.
7. All fungi secrete digestive enzymes that break
down organic matter in their environment. The
decomposed molecules are then absorbed into
the fungus through the cell walls of the hyphae.
8. spores
9. haploid
10. asexual reproduction
11. mating types
12. budding
SECTION: GROUPS OF FUNGI
1. Chytrids are modern aquatic fungi that can
swim. They are believed to have evolved from
early protists that lived in water and swam with
flagella.
2. Black bread mold, Rhizopus, is a zygote
fungus. It reproduces asexually by producing
spores in a sporangium and sexually by
producing spores in a zygosporangium.
3. Sac fungi produce asexual spores in
specialized hyphae called conidiophores.
They produce sexual spores in asci that develop
from dikaryotic hyphae.
4. Meiosis occurs in Ascomycota within the
asci. Meiosis occurs in Zygomycota within the
zygosporangium.
5. Mushrooms are in the phylum
Basidiomycota. Members of this phylum produce
sexual spores in the gills of clublike basidia,
rarely reproduce asexually, and have dikaryotic
cells throughout most of their life cycle.
6. g
7. a
8. b
9. d
10. f
11. e
12. c
13. The fungi obtain carbohydrates made by the
plants.
14. The plants are able to get more mineral
nutrients, such as phosphorus, which the fungi
absorb from the soil and transfer to the plants’
roots.
15. The fungus protects the photosynthetic
partner from the environment and provides it
with mineral nutrients.
SECTION: FUNGI AND HUMANS
1. Yeasts
2. cortisone
3. Some fungi are parasites of insects. These
fungi are used to infect and kill crop destroying
insects, which means that smaller amounts of
harmful chemical pesticides need to be used.
4. Fungi decompose and recycle organic matter
in the environment, such as wood and dead
organisms, making the nutrients they contain
available to other organisms. Fungi break down
rocks, preparing the environment for other
organisms. Fungi also form important
relationships with plants to help them grow.
5. Fungi cause disease by absorbing nutrients
from host tissues and by producing toxins.
6. Fungal infections can be difficult to cure
because the fungi grow on and inside the
tissues of the host’s body, which are hard to
reach by medicines.
7. e 11. b
8. g 12. h
9. f 13. c
10. a 14. d