Kingdom Fungi
BiologyBiological ClassificationFor NEET aspirants
Kingdom Fungi is a unique kingdom of heterotrophic organisms with walls of chitin, bodies of hyphae and reproduction by many kinds of spores. These notes on Kingdom Fungi cover hyphae and mycelium, modes of nutrition, the three-step sexual cycle with its dikaryophase, and the four classes with their examples. Short closing sections give the features of Kingdom Plantae and Kingdom Animalia. Comparison tables, memory tricks and NEET-format questions help you answer class-wise match and statement questions quickly.
On this page1General features2Reproduction3Phycomycetes4Ascomycetes5Basidiomycetes6Deuteromycetes7Plantae and Animalia8Exam essentials9Practice
Key Points at a Glance
- ★ Must learn Fungi: heterotrophic; filamentous except the unicellular yeasts; hyphae form a mycelium; wall of chitin and polysaccharides.
- Hyphae are either coenocytic (no cross walls, multinucleate) or septate.
- Nutrition: saprophytes, parasites, or symbionts (lichens with algae, mycorrhiza with plant roots).
- Asexual spores: conidia, sporangiospores, zoospores. Sexual spores: oospores, ascospores, basidiospores.
- ★ Must learn Sexual cycle: plasmogamy, then karyogamy, then meiosis in the zygote giving haploid spores.
- ★ Must learn Dikaryon (n + n, two nuclei per cell) occurs in ascomycetes and basidiomycetes: the dikaryophase.
- ★ Must learn Phycomycetes: aseptate, coenocytic mycelium; zygospore; Mucor, Rhizopus, Albugo.
- Ascomycetes (sac fungi): conidia on conidiophores; ascospores in asci inside ascocarps.
- Basidiomycetes: no sex organs; four basidiospores on a basidium; Agaricus, Ustilago, Puccinia.
- ★ Must learn Deuteromycetes (imperfect fungi): only asexual conidia known; Alternaria, Colletotrichum, Trichoderma.
- Plantae: eukaryotic, chlorophyll-containing; cellulose wall; alternation of generations.
- Animalia: multicellular heterotrophs without cell walls; holozoic; reserves of glycogen or fat.
1. Kingdom Fungi: General Features
- ★ Exam imp The fungi form a unique kingdom of heterotrophic organisms.
- They show great diversity in morphology and habitat.
1.1 Fungi around us
- Fungi grow on moist bread and rotten fruits.
- The common mushroom we eat and toadstools are fungi.
- White spots on mustard leaves are due to a parasitic fungus.
- Some unicellular fungi, e.g., yeast, are used to make bread and beer.
- Other fungi cause diseases in plants and animals; Puccinia, which causes wheat rust, is an important example.
- Some are the source of antibiotics, e.g., Penicillium.
- Fungi are cosmopolitan: they occur in air, water, soil, and on animals and plants.
- They prefer to grow in warm and humid places.
- Food is kept in a refrigerator to prevent spoilage by bacterial or fungal infections.
1.2 Body and cell wall
- ★ Exam imp Except the yeasts, which are unicellular, fungi are filamentous.
- Their bodies consist of long, slender, thread-like structures called hyphae.
- The network of hyphae is called the mycelium.
- Coenocytic hyphae: continuous tubes filled with multinucleated cytoplasm.
- Other hyphae have septa (cross walls).
- The cell walls of fungi are made of chitin and polysaccharides.
Coenocytic hyphae
- No cross walls (aseptate)
- Continuous tube
- Multinucleated cytoplasm
- Seen in phycomycetes
Septate hyphae
- Cross walls (septa) present
- Divided into compartments
- Ascomycetes, basidiomycetes, deuteromycetes
1.3 Nutrition
- ★ Exam imp Most fungi absorb soluble organic matter from dead substrates; they are saprophytes.
- Those that depend on living plants and animals are parasites.
- Fungi also live as symbionts: with algae as lichens, and with roots of higher plants as mycorrhiza.
Memory Trick
Fungi feed in three S-ways: Saprophytes (dead matter), paraSites (living hosts) and Symbionts (lichens with algae, mycorrhiza with roots).
Key idea
Fungi are heterotrophs built of hyphae with chitin walls; they live as saprophytes, parasites or symbionts.
2. Reproduction in Fungi
| Type of reproduction | How it happens |
|---|---|
| Vegetative | Fragmentation, fission and budding |
| Asexual | Spores called conidia, sporangiospores or zoospores |
| Sexual | Oospores, ascospores and basidiospores |
- The various spores are produced in distinct structures called fruiting bodies.
2.1 The three steps of the sexual cycle
- Plasmogamy: fusion of protoplasms between two motile or non-motile gametes.
- Karyogamy: fusion of the two nuclei.
- Meiosis in the zygote, giving haploid spores.
Memory Trick
Order of the sexual cycle: Please Keep Moving (Plasmogamy, Karyogamy, Meiosis). Protoplasm fuses before the nucleus: 'P' comes before 'K'.
2.2 Dikaryon and dikaryophase
- Two haploid hyphae of compatible mating types come together and fuse.
- In some fungi, the fusion of two haploid cells immediately gives diploid cells (2n).
- In other fungi (ascomycetes and basidiomycetes), an intervening dikaryotic stage (n + n) occurs, with two nuclei per cell.
- Later, the parental nuclei fuse and the cells become diploid.
- The fungi form fruiting bodies, in which reduction division occurs and haploid spores are formed.
★ Very important Dikaryon: the condition of two nuclei per cell (n + n). The phase is called the dikaryophase of the fungus. It occurs in ascomycetes and basidiomycetes.
- ★ Exam imp The fungal kingdom is divided into classes on the basis of the morphology of the mycelium, the mode of spore formation and the fruiting bodies.
Quick Recall: tap to check
Name the three steps of the fungal sexual cycle in order.
Plasmogamy, karyogamy, meiosis.
How is the dikaryotic condition written?
n + n: two nuclei per cell.
In which two classes does the dikaryophase occur?
Ascomycetes and basidiomycetes.
Name the three vegetative modes of reproduction in fungi.
Fragmentation, fission and budding.
Key idea
Fungi reproduce vegetatively, asexually and sexually; the sexual cycle runs plasmogamy, karyogamy, meiosis, with a dikaryophase in ascomycetes and basidiomycetes.
3. Phycomycetes
- Members are found in aquatic habitats, on decaying wood in moist and damp places, or as obligate parasites on plants.
- ★ Exam imp The mycelium is aseptate and coenocytic.
- Asexual reproduction is by zoospores (motile) or aplanospores (non-motile).
- These spores are produced endogenously in a sporangium.
- A zygospore is formed by the fusion of two gametes.
- The gametes may be similar in morphology (isogamous) or dissimilar (anisogamous or oogamous).
- Common examples: Mucor, Rhizopus (the bread mould) and Albugo (the parasitic fungus on mustard).
Memory Trick
Phycomycete examples: MRA = Moist Rotten Areas, where they grow: Mucor, Rhizopus, Albugo. 'Phyco' means alga: these 'algal fungi' favour aquatic and damp places.
Key idea
Phycomycetes have aseptate, coenocytic hyphae, endogenous asexual spores in a sporangium and a zygospore.
4. Ascomycetes
- Ascomycetes are commonly known as sac fungi.
- They are mostly multicellular, e.g., Penicillium, or rarely unicellular, e.g., yeast (Saccharomyces).
- They are saprophytic, decomposers, parasitic or coprophilous (growing on dung).
- The mycelium is branched and septate.
- ★ Exam imp The asexual spores are conidia, produced exogenously on special mycelium called conidiophores.
- Conidia germinate to produce mycelium.
- ★ Exam imp The sexual spores are ascospores, produced endogenously in sac-like asci (singular: ascus).
- The asci are arranged in different types of fruiting bodies called ascocarps.
- Examples: Aspergillus, Claviceps and Neurospora.
- Neurospora is used extensively in biochemical and genetic work.
- Many members, such as morels and truffles, are edible and are considered delicacies.
Key idea
Ascomycetes are sac fungi: septate mycelium, exogenous conidia, and ascospores inside asci held in ascocarps.
5. Basidiomycetes
- Common forms are mushrooms, bracket fungi and puffballs.
- They grow in soil, on logs and tree stumps, and in living plant bodies as parasites, e.g., rusts and smuts.
- The mycelium is branched and septate.
- Asexual spores are generally not found, but vegetative reproduction by fragmentation is common.
- ★ Exam imp The sex organs are absent. Plasmogamy occurs by the fusion of two vegetative or somatic cells of different strains or genotypes.
- The resulting structure is dikaryotic and ultimately gives rise to the basidium.
- ★ Exam imp Karyogamy and meiosis take place in the basidium, producing four basidiospores.
- The basidiospores are produced exogenously on the basidium (plural: basidia).
- The basidia are arranged in fruiting bodies called basidiocarps.
- Common members: Agaricus (mushroom), Ustilago (smut) and Puccinia (rust fungus).
Memory Trick
Basidiomycete examples spell A-U-P, read as 'up': Agaricus (mushroom), Ustilago (smut), Puccinia (rust). Mushrooms push up from the soil.
Key idea
Basidiomycetes lack sex organs and generally lack asexual spores; somatic fusion gives a dikaryon, then four exogenous basidiospores on each basidium.
6. Deuteromycetes
- ★ Exam imp Deuteromycetes are commonly known as imperfect fungi, because only their asexual or vegetative phases are known.
- When the sexual forms of these fungi were discovered, they were moved into the classes they rightly belong to.
- One fungus may have carried two different names: one for its asexual stage (placed in deuteromycetes) and another for its sexual stage (placed in another class).
- Once the link between the two stages was established, the fungus was correctly identified and moved out of deuteromycetes.
- Once perfect (sexual) stages were found, members were often moved to ascomycetes and basidiomycetes.
- ★ Exam imp Deuteromycetes reproduce only by asexual spores known as conidia.
- The mycelium is septate and branched.
- Some members are saprophytes or parasites; a large number are decomposers of litter and help in mineral cycling.
- Examples: Alternaria, Colletotrichum and Trichoderma.
Memory Trick
Imperfect fungi only ACT asexually: Alternaria, Colletotrichum, Trichoderma.
6.1 The four classes compared
| Character | Phycomycetes | Ascomycetes | Basidiomycetes | Deuteromycetes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Common name | - | Sac fungi | Mushrooms, bracket fungi, puffballs | Imperfect fungi |
| Habitat or nutrition | Aquatic; decaying wood in damp places; obligate parasites on plants | Saprophytic, decomposers, parasitic or coprophilous | Soil, logs, tree stumps; parasites (rusts, smuts) | Saprophytes, parasites; many decomposers of litter |
| Mycelium | Aseptate, coenocytic | Branched, septate | Branched, septate | Septate, branched |
| Asexual spores | Zoospores or aplanospores, endogenous in sporangium | Conidia, exogenous on conidiophores | Generally not found; fragmentation common | Conidia only |
| Sexual stage | Zygospore from fusion of two gametes | Ascospores, endogenous in asci | Four basidiospores, exogenous on basidium | Not known |
| Fruiting body | - | Ascocarp | Basidiocarp | - |
| Examples | Mucor, Rhizopus, Albugo | Penicillium, yeast, Aspergillus, Claviceps, Neurospora | Agaricus, Ustilago, Puccinia | Alternaria, Colletotrichum, Trichoderma |
Tips and Tricks
Endogenous or exogenous? Spores formed inside a bag (sporangium, ascus) are endogenous. Spores formed on a stalk or club (conidiophore, basidium) are exogenous.
Quick Recall: tap to check
Which class is commonly called sac fungi?
Ascomycetes.
Where are conidia produced in ascomycetes?
Exogenously on special mycelium called conidiophores.
What are basidiocarps?
Fruiting bodies in which the basidia are arranged.
Name a fungus used extensively in biochemical and genetic work.
Neurospora.
Key idea
Deuteromycetes are fungi whose sexual stage is unknown; they reproduce only by conidia and many decompose litter.
7. Kingdom Plantae
- ★ Exam imp Kingdom Plantae includes all eukaryotic chlorophyll-containing organisms, commonly called plants.
- A few members are partially heterotrophic, such as insectivorous plants or parasites.
- Bladderwort and Venus fly trap are insectivorous plants; Cuscuta is a parasite.
- Plant cells have a eukaryotic structure with prominent chloroplasts and a cell wall made mainly of cellulose.
- Plantae includes algae, bryophytes, pteridophytes, gymnosperms and angiosperms.
- The life cycle has two distinct phases, the diploid sporophytic and the haploid gametophytic, which alternate with each other.
- The lengths of the two phases, and whether they are free-living or dependent, vary among plant groups.
- This phenomenon is called alternation of generations.
★ Very important Alternation of generations: the diploid sporophytic and haploid gametophytic phases of a plant life cycle alternate with each other.
Key idea
Plants are eukaryotic, chlorophyll-containing and cellulose-walled, and their life cycle alternates between sporophyte and gametophyte.
8. Kingdom Animalia
- ★ Exam imp Kingdom Animalia has heterotrophic, eukaryotic, multicellular organisms whose cells lack cell walls.
- Animals depend directly or indirectly on plants for food.
- They digest food in an internal cavity and store food reserves as glycogen or fat.
- Their mode of nutrition is holozoic: by ingestion of food.
- They follow a definite growth pattern and grow into adults of definite shape and size.
- Higher forms show an elaborate sensory and neuromotor mechanism.
- Most of them are capable of locomotion.
- Sexual reproduction is by copulation of male and female, followed by embryological development.
Plantae
- Autotrophic (a few partly heterotrophic)
- Cell wall mainly cellulose
- Prominent chloroplasts
- Alternation of generations
Animalia
- Heterotrophic, holozoic
- No cell wall
- Reserves: glycogen or fat
- Copulation, then embryological development
Memory Trick
Animal food stores: G and F, Glycogen and Fat. Options often offer starch as a distractor.
Key idea
Animals are wall-less, holozoic multicellular heterotrophs that store glycogen or fat and show a definite growth pattern.
9. Exam Essentials: Traps, Exceptions, Numbers and Pairs
NEET Focus
Class-wise traps NEET builds statements from:
- Only phycomycetes have aseptate, coenocytic mycelium.
- Conidia are exogenous; sporangiospores and ascospores are endogenous; basidiospores are exogenous.
- Basidiomycetes have no sex organs and generally no asexual spores.
- Deuteromycetes reproduce only by conidia.
- Yeast (Saccharomyces) is a unicellular ascomycete; Albugo is a phycomycete.
Exceptions
- Yeasts are unicellular; all other fungi are filamentous.
- Ascomycetes are mostly multicellular; yeast is the rare unicellular member.
- Dikaryophase occurs only in ascomycetes and basidiomycetes.
- Basidiomycetes: sex organs absent; asexual spores generally not found.
- Deuteromycetes: no sexual stage known.
- Plantae: a few members, such as insectivorous plants and Cuscuta, are partially heterotrophic.
- Animalia: only kingdom whose cells lack cell walls.
Numbers to Remember
- 3 steps in the sexual cycle: plasmogamy, karyogamy, meiosis.
- 4 classes of fungi.
- 4 basidiospores produced on each basidium.
- Dikaryon: n + n, two nuclei per cell; after nuclear fusion the cells are diploid (2n).
- Plant life cycle: 2 alternating phases, sporophytic (diploid) and gametophytic (haploid).
Examples to Remember
| Group | Examples |
|---|---|
| Phycomycetes | Mucor, Rhizopus (bread mould), Albugo (on mustard) |
| Ascomycetes | Penicillium, yeast (Saccharomyces), Aspergillus, Claviceps, Neurospora, morels, truffles |
| Basidiomycetes | Agaricus (mushroom), Ustilago (smut), Puccinia (rust); bracket fungi, puffballs |
| Deuteromycetes | Alternaria, Colletotrichum, Trichoderma |
| Insectivorous plants | Bladderwort, Venus fly trap |
| Parasitic plant | Cuscuta |
Pairs to Match
| Item | Matches with |
|---|---|
| Albugo | Parasitic fungus on mustard |
| Rhizopus | Bread mould |
| Puccinia | Wheat rust |
| Ustilago | Smut |
| Penicillium | Source of antibiotics |
| Yeast | Bread and beer; unicellular ascomycete |
| Neurospora | Biochemical and genetic work |
| Morels and truffles | Edible delicacies |
| Plasmogamy | Fusion of protoplasms |
| Karyogamy | Fusion of two nuclei |
| Dikaryon | n + n, two nuclei per cell |
| Ascocarp | Fruiting body bearing asci |
| Basidiocarp | Fruiting body bearing basidia |
| Coprophilous | Growing on dung |
| Mycorrhiza | Fungus with roots of higher plants |
Quick Recall: tap to check
Which class has aseptate, coenocytic mycelium?
Phycomycetes.
Where are ascospores produced?
Endogenously in sac-like asci, arranged in ascocarps.
How many basidiospores does a basidium produce?
Four, produced exogenously.
Why are deuteromycetes called imperfect fungi?
Only their asexual or vegetative phases are known.
Name two insectivorous plants and one parasitic plant.
Bladderwort and Venus fly trap; Cuscuta.
10. Quick Revision
- Fungi: unique heterotrophic kingdom; cosmopolitan; prefer warm, humid places.
- Yeasts are unicellular; other fungi have hyphae forming a mycelium.
- Hyphae: coenocytic (multinucleate) or septate; walls of chitin and polysaccharides.
- Nutrition: saprophytes, parasites, symbionts (lichens, mycorrhiza).
- Vegetative: fragmentation, fission, budding; asexual: conidia, sporangiospores, zoospores.
- Sexual spores: oospores, ascospores, basidiospores, formed in fruiting bodies.
- Sexual cycle: plasmogamy, karyogamy, meiosis giving haploid spores.
- Dikaryon (n + n) in ascomycetes and basidiomycetes.
- Phycomycetes: aseptate; zoospores or aplanospores; zygospore; Mucor, Rhizopus, Albugo.
- Ascomycetes: conidia on conidiophores; ascospores in asci; ascocarps; Neurospora in genetics.
- Basidiomycetes: no sex organs; four basidiospores; basidiocarps; Agaricus, Ustilago, Puccinia.
- Deuteromycetes: only conidia; decomposers of litter; Alternaria, Colletotrichum, Trichoderma.
- Plantae: chlorophyll, cellulose wall, alternation of generations; a few partially heterotrophic.
- Animalia: no cell wall, holozoic, glycogen or fat reserves, definite growth pattern.
11. Solved Examples
Solved Example 1
Match List I (class of fungi) with List II (example).
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
(1) A-II, B-III, C-IV, D-I
(2) A-III, B-II, C-IV, D-I
(3) A-II, B-IV, C-III, D-I
(4) A-I, B-III, C-IV, D-II
| List I | List II |
|---|---|
| A. Phycomycetes | I. Trichoderma |
| B. Ascomycetes | II. Albugo |
| C. Basidiomycetes | III. Claviceps |
| D. Deuteromycetes | IV. Ustilago |
(1) A-II, B-III, C-IV, D-I
(2) A-III, B-II, C-IV, D-I
(3) A-II, B-IV, C-III, D-I
(4) A-I, B-III, C-IV, D-II
Solution:
Answer: (1). Albugo is a phycomycete (II), Claviceps an ascomycete (III), Ustilago a basidiomycete (IV) and Trichoderma a deuteromycete (I).
Solved Example 2
Read the following statements about basidiomycetes.
A. The mycelium is branched and septate.
B. Asexual spores are commonly produced as conidia.
C. Sex organs are absent.
D. Karyogamy and meiosis take place in the basidium.
E. Basidiospores are produced endogenously.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
(1) A, C and D only
(2) A, B and C only
(3) B, D and E only
(4) A, C, D and E only
A. The mycelium is branched and septate.
B. Asexual spores are commonly produced as conidia.
C. Sex organs are absent.
D. Karyogamy and meiosis take place in the basidium.
E. Basidiospores are produced endogenously.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
(1) A, C and D only
(2) A, B and C only
(3) B, D and E only
(4) A, C, D and E only
Solution:
Answer: (1). B is wrong: asexual spores are generally not found. E is wrong: basidiospores are produced exogenously on the basidium.
Solved Example 3
Arrange the events of the sexual cycle of an ascomycete in the correct sequence.
A. Karyogamy
B. Formation of haploid spores
C. Plasmogamy
D. Dikaryotic stage (n + n)
E. Meiosis
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
(1) C, D, A, E, B
(2) C, A, D, E, B
(3) D, C, A, E, B
(4) C, D, E, A, B
A. Karyogamy
B. Formation of haploid spores
C. Plasmogamy
D. Dikaryotic stage (n + n)
E. Meiosis
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
(1) C, D, A, E, B
(2) C, A, D, E, B
(3) D, C, A, E, B
(4) C, D, E, A, B
Solution:
Answer: (1). Plasmogamy (C) gives a dikaryotic stage (D). The nuclei later fuse (A), meiosis follows (E), and haploid spores form (B).
Solved Example 4
Fungi in which only the asexual or vegetative phases are known are placed in:
(1) Phycomycetes
(2) Ascomycetes
(3) Basidiomycetes
(4) Deuteromycetes
(1) Phycomycetes
(2) Ascomycetes
(3) Basidiomycetes
(4) Deuteromycetes
Solution:
Answer: (4). Deuteromycetes are the imperfect fungi; they reproduce only by conidia. When their sexual stages are found, they are moved, often to ascomycetes or basidiomycetes.
Solved Example 5
Which of the following is NOT correct about phycomycetes?
(1) The mycelium is aseptate and coenocytic.
(2) Asexual spores are produced endogenously in a sporangium.
(3) A zygospore is formed by the fusion of two gametes.
(4) Asexual spores are conidia produced exogenously on conidiophores.
(1) The mycelium is aseptate and coenocytic.
(2) Asexual spores are produced endogenously in a sporangium.
(3) A zygospore is formed by the fusion of two gametes.
(4) Asexual spores are conidia produced exogenously on conidiophores.
Solution:
Answer: (4). Conidia on conidiophores belong to ascomycetes. Phycomycetes form zoospores or aplanospores inside a sporangium.
12. Practice Questions
Practice Questions
- Plants are autotrophic. Can you think of some plants that are partially heterotrophic?Answer: Insectivorous plants such as bladderwort and Venus fly trap, and the parasitic plant Cuscuta.
- Give a comparative account of the classes of Kingdom Fungi under (i) mode of nutrition and (ii) mode of reproduction.Answer: (i) Phycomycetes: saprophytic (in water, on decaying wood) or obligate parasites on plants. Ascomycetes: saprophytic, decomposers, parasitic or coprophilous. Basidiomycetes: saprophytic (in soil, on logs and stumps) or parasitic (rusts, smuts). Deuteromycetes: saprophytes or parasites; many are decomposers of litter. (ii) Phycomycetes: zoospores or aplanospores; zygospore. Ascomycetes: conidia; ascospores in asci. Basidiomycetes: fragmentation; four basidiospores on a basidium. Deuteromycetes: conidia only.
- Match List I (spore) with List II (where it is formed).
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
List I List II A. Zoospores I. Exogenously on a basidium B. Conidia II. Endogenously in a sporangium C. Ascospores III. Endogenously in asci D. Basidiospores IV. Exogenously on conidiophores
(1) A-II, B-IV, C-III, D-I
(2) A-IV, B-II, C-III, D-I
(3) A-II, B-III, C-IV, D-I
(4) A-I, B-IV, C-III, D-IIAnswer: (1). Zoospores form in a sporangium, conidia on conidiophores, ascospores in asci, basidiospores on a basidium. - Which statements about Kingdom Animalia are correct?
A. Their cells lack cell walls.
B. They store food reserves as starch.
C. Their mode of nutrition is holozoic.
D. Higher forms show an elaborate sensory and neuromotor mechanism.
E. All of them are capable of locomotion.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
(1) A, C and D only
(2) A, B and C only
(3) A, C, D and E only
(4) B, D and E onlyAnswer: (1). Reserves are glycogen or fat, and most (not all) animals move. - Statement I: In ascomycetes, ascospores are produced endogenously in asci.
Statement II: Deuteromycetes reproduce sexually by ascospores.
(1) Both Statement I and Statement II are correct
(2) Both Statement I and Statement II are incorrect
(3) Statement I is correct but Statement II is incorrect
(4) Statement I is incorrect but Statement II is correctAnswer: (3). Deuteromycetes reproduce only by asexual conidia. - Which of the following is NOT a basidiomycete?
(1) Agaricus
(2) Ustilago
(3) Puccinia
(4) AspergillusAnswer: (4). Aspergillus is an ascomycete. - Alternation of generations in plants refers to the alternation of:
(1) Diploid sporophytic and haploid gametophytic phases
(2) Asexual and vegetative phases
(3) Dikaryotic and diploid phases
(4) Autotrophic and heterotrophic phasesAnswer: (1). The diploid sporophyte and the haploid gametophyte alternate in the plant life cycle.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Watch out
- Calling phycomycete mycelium septate. It is aseptate and coenocytic.
- Calling conidia endogenous. Conidia form exogenously on conidiophores.
- Placing yeast in phycomycetes. Yeast (Saccharomyces) is a unicellular ascomycete.
- Writing karyogamy before plasmogamy. The order is plasmogamy, karyogamy, meiosis.
- Giving every fungus a dikaryophase. It occurs in ascomycetes and basidiomycetes.
- Saying basidiomycetes commonly form asexual spores. These are generally not found; fragmentation is common.
- Giving the fungal wall cellulose. It is made of chitin and polysaccharides.
- Writing starch as the animal food reserve. Animals store glycogen or fat.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the main features of Kingdom Fungi?
Fungi are heterotrophic eukaryotes. Except unicellular yeasts, they are filamentous, with hyphae forming a mycelium. Their walls contain chitin and polysaccharides. Most are saprophytes, some are parasites, and some live as symbionts in lichens and mycorrhiza. They reproduce by vegetative means, asexual spores and sexual spores.
What is the difference between coenocytic and septate hyphae?
Coenocytic hyphae are continuous tubes without cross walls, filled with multinucleated cytoplasm. They occur in phycomycetes. Septate hyphae have cross walls called septa, which divide them into compartments. Ascomycetes, basidiomycetes and deuteromycetes have branched, septate mycelium, which is a frequent statement point in NEET.
What are plasmogamy and karyogamy?
Plasmogamy is the fusion of the protoplasms of two motile or non-motile gametes. Karyogamy is the later fusion of their two nuclei. Meiosis in the zygote then produces haploid spores. In basidiomycetes, plasmogamy happens by fusion of somatic cells of different strains, because sex organs are absent.
What is a dikaryon in fungi?
A dikaryon is a cell with two separate nuclei, written n + n. It arises when plasmogamy is not followed at once by karyogamy. This dikaryophase occurs in ascomycetes and basidiomycetes. Later the parental nuclei fuse, the cell becomes diploid, and meiosis in the fruiting body forms haploid spores.
Why are deuteromycetes called imperfect fungi?
Only their asexual or vegetative phases are known, and they reproduce only by conidia. When the sexual stage of such a fungus is discovered, it is moved to its correct class, often ascomycetes or basidiomycetes. Examples are Alternaria, Colletotrichum and Trichoderma, many of which decompose litter.
How do ascomycetes and basidiomycetes differ?
Ascomycetes produce conidia exogenously on conidiophores and ascospores endogenously in asci, held in ascocarps. Basidiomycetes generally lack asexual spores and sex organs; they form four basidiospores exogenously on a basidium, held in basidiocarps. Both have branched, septate mycelium and a dikaryotic stage.
Are all plants autotrophic?
Almost all plants are autotrophic, because they contain chlorophyll and prominent chloroplasts. A few are partially heterotrophic. Bladderwort and Venus fly trap are insectivorous plants, and Cuscuta is a parasite. Plants have cellulose walls and show alternation of generations between sporophytic and gametophytic phases.
What are the key features of Kingdom Animalia for NEET?
Animals are heterotrophic, eukaryotic and multicellular, and their cells lack cell walls. Nutrition is holozoic, by ingestion, and food is digested in an internal cavity. Reserves are glycogen or fat. Animals follow a definite growth pattern, most can move, and they reproduce sexually by copulation followed by embryological development.
Previous year questions on Kingdom Fungi
8 questions from past papers, each with a step-by-step solution.
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