BIO153H5 Chapter Notes - Chapter 31: Microsporidia, Cyanobacteria, Glomeromycota
Document Summary
Key concepts: fungi are important in part because many species live in close association with land plants. They supply plants with key nutrients and decompose dead wood. They are the master recyclers of nutrients in terrestrial environments: all fungi make their living by absorbing nutrients from living or dead organisms. Fungi secrete enzymes so that digestion takes place outside their cells. Their morphology provides a large amount of surface area for efficient absorption: many fungi have unusual life cycles. It is common for species to have a long-lived heterokaryotic stage, in which cells contain haploid nuclei from two different individuals. Although most species reproduce sexually, very few species produce gametes. Fungi nourish the plants that nourish us. They affect global warming, because they are critical to the carbon cycle on land. A handful of species can cause debilitating diseases in humans and crop plants. Mycorrhizal associations between fungi and plant roots allow faster plant growth (figure 31. 1).
