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Fungi are not plants.
Living things are organized for study into large, basic groups called kingdoms.
Fungi were listed in the Plant Kingdom for many years. Then scientists learned
that fungi show a closer relation to animals, but are unique and separate life
forms. Now, Fungi are placed in their own Kingdom.
It is a hidden kingdom. The part of the fungus that we see is only the
“fruit” of the organism. The living body of the fungus is a mycelium
made out of a web of tiny filaments called hyphae. The mycelium is usually
hidden in the soil, in wood, or another food source. A mycelium may fill a
single ant, or cover many acres. The branching hyphae can add over a half mile
(1 km) of total length to the mycelium each day. These webs live unseen until
they develop mushrooms, puffballs, truffles, brackets, cups, “birds
nests,” “corals” or other fruiting bodies. If the mycelium
produces microscopic fruiting bodies, people may never notice the fungus.
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Most fungi build their cell walls out of chitin. This is the same
material as the hard outer shells of insects and other arthropods. Plants do
not make chitin.
Fungi feed by absorbing nutrients from the organic material in which they live.
Fungi do not have stomachs. They must digest their food before it can pass
through the cell wall into the hyphae. Hyphae secrete acids and enzymes that
break the surrounding organic material down into simple molecules they can
easily absorb.
Fungi have evolved to use a lot of different items for food. Some are
decomposers living on dead organic material like leaves. Some fungi cause
diseases by using living organisms for food. These fungi infect plants, animals
and even other fungi. Athlete’s foot and ringworm are two fungal diseases
in humans. The mycorrhizal fungi live as partners with plants. They provide
mineral nutrients to the plant in exchange for carbohydrates or other chemicals
fungi cannot manufacture.
You
probably use fungal products every day without being aware of it. People eat
mushrooms of all shapes, sizes and colors. Yeasts are used in making bread,
wine, beer and solvents. Drugs made from fungi cure diseases and stop the
rejection of transplanted hearts and other organs. Fungi are also grown in
large vats to produce flavorings for cooking, vitamins and enzymes for removing
stains.
GLOSSARY
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Last update: 15 Nov 06. © 1995, Robert Fogel, Ivins, UT 84738.
Edited by Patricia Rogers. Pilobolus photograph couresty of M.J. Wynne.
Geastrum, Amanita, and Morchella photographs courtesy of
R. L. Shaffer.