Fungi: What is fungi? General characteristics and reproduction.

Fungi: General characteristics and reproduction. 

Fungi are such organisms of the fungi kingdom that lack chlorophyll and fungus is present everywhere such as in home food, in pickles, in bread, in jam, etc.

 Fungus is harmful as well as beneficial for us. Many medicines are also made by fungus and it also causes many diseases and fungus has been kept in the branch of microbiology, in which protozoa, bacteria, virus, algae like the following come.

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Introduction Of Fungi - 

Fungi are eukaryotic multicellular organisms. So far, about 70,000 fungal species have been discovered on the earth. In 1991, the Hawkes class suggested that there could be about 1.5 million fungal species worldwide. The study of fungus is called mycology. It is found abundantly in moist places. Fungal members are found abundantly in soil, water, air, food.

What is the definition of fungus?

Fungi have been defined in many ways. According to the famous mycologist Anton de Vries, who is called the father of modern mycology, fungi are living and dynamic structures.

According to Bassey, fungi are plants without chlorophyll.
According to Alexopoulos and Mims, fungi are eukaryotic spore-bearing organisms without chlorophyll.

In simple language, we can define fungi as follows - Fungi are eukaryotic multicellular organisms that have the sense of chlorophyll.

What are the general characteristics of fungus?

1. Their body is made up of hyphae which are thread like and their body is long. These hyphae together form the mycelium.
2. The cell wall of fungi is made up of fungal cellulose and chitin.
3. Nucleus is found in fungus but chlorophyll is absent. So they cannot cook their own food. They are hosts, their life depends on others.
4. The stored substance in the fungus is glycogen.
5. Three types of reproduction are found in fungi, vagitative asexual reproduction and sexual reproduction.
6. Fungus does not have a vascular system.
7. Mycelium is aseptate or septete.
8. Fungus are omnipresent.

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How does nutrition take place in fungi?

Fungi are devoid of chlorophyll, so they cannot make their own food, they depend on others for their food, thus the work has a facultative type of nutrition method. On the basis of nutrition, the fungus is divided into the following-

1. Parasite

2. Saprophytes

3. Symbiotic

1. Parasite - These fungi obtain their food from plants and living animals. These animals and plants are called hosts.

1. Saprophytes - These fungi obtain their food from the tissues of dead plants and animals and from other rotten organic matter. Saprophytic fungi are of two types –   (A) Facultative saprophytes - These fungi are generally parasitic but under certain conditions they can lead a saprophytic life.       (B) Obligate saprophytes - These fungi obtain their food only from decaying matter and not from living hosts.

1. Symbiotic - These fungi grow with other trees and plants and continue to benefit each other. This type of alliance is also called symbiosis and the organisms participating in it are called symbiotic organisms. The most common example of this is lichen.

Describe the methods of reproduction in fungi.

Generally, there are three types of methods of reproduction in fungi -

• Vegetative reproduction
• Asexual and
• Sexual reproductin

1.Vegetative reproduction -

In vegetative reproduction, a part of the mycelium separates from the fungus to form a new fungus.

This is done by the following methods -

• By Fragmentation - In this method the hyphae break into one or more segments and each segment forms a new mycelium.

• By fission - In this method a unicellular fungus grows and changes into two equal sizes by contraction of the cell.

• By budding - This type of reproduction is found in unicellular fungi. In this method, a bud is produced from the parent cell and separates from the parent cell to form a new organism.

2. Asexual reproduction 

Reproduction in fungi takes place by the following structures -

By zoospores – These are uninucleate spike-like structures that form hygrospores and germinate to form new fungi.

By aplanospores - It is a spherical and nucleated or multinucleate tubercular structure which produces and germinates in an immovable spore sac to form a new fungus.

By conidia - These are immobile and exogenous spores which are attached to the conidiophore, they germinate under favorable conditions to form new fungi.

3. Sexual reproductin 

Sexual reproduction is also found in fungi like other organisms. And in this the fusion of two gametes takes place. There are three distinct stages in sexual reproduction.

Plasmogamy - This is the first stage of sexual reproduction in cubs. In which the fusion of the protoplasm of two gametes takes place. In this process the nuclei of both the young ones come near each other in the same cell but do not fuse.

Karyogamy - This is the second stage of sexual reproduction in fungi in which both the haploid nuclei of the gametes fuse to form the diploid zygote.

Meiosis - This is the third stage of sexual reproduction in fungi, in which meiosis occurs in the diploid nucleus, as a result of which the number of chromosomes decreases and remains half and the haploid stage is obtained again.

What is the economic importance of fungi? 

1. Fungi are essential for the nutrition of trees.
3. Many fungi produce a variety of acids and organic matter.
4. Many types of antibiotics are obtained by rabies.
5. Many times increase the fertility of the land by fixing nitrogen.
6. Fungi increase the fertility of the soil by decomposing the decaying matter. 

Frequently asked questions-

Question - Which organisms are fungi?

answer - host

Question - What is the study of fungi called?

Answer – Mycology

Question- What is the cell wall of fungi made of?

Answer – of cellulose chitin

Question - Which accumulated substance is present in fungi?

Answer – Glycogen

Question - How many methods of reproduction are found in fungi?

Answer- 3 - Vegetative reproduction sexual reproduction and asexual reproduction