BSC 196 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Conidium, Basidiocarp, Ascomycota
Document Summary
Arose in the oceans over 1. 4 billion years ago. Diffi(cid:272)ult to assess fossils, as soft (cid:271)odies do(cid:374)"t fossilize well. Increased in diversity (and size) on land. Most species are sessile: no active movement. Grow upon their food, secrete digestive enzymes, absorb nutrients. Despite appearances, fungi are more closely related to animals than they are to plants. Some fungi parasitize animals and plants (rusts, bights, smuts, ergot). Fungal fruiting bodies are often edible (morels, truffles, mushrooms). Yeast create co2 in the process of anaerobic (without o2) fermentation. Used to make alcoholic drinks, cheese, yogurt, vinegar, pickles, leaven bread. Penicillin and other fungus-derived chemicals are important antibiotics. Fungal cell walls are made of strong flexible chitin, not cellulose. Like plants, fungi have large surface area: volume ratios. Most multicellular fungi are made of hyphae, long strands of cells. Hyphae form a feeding body, the mycelium (plural mycelia). Structures visible above ground are the fruiting body (reproductive).
