Sexual reproduction is shown for a species of Saprolegnia in Figure O . Asexual reproduction is by release of motile zoospores from a sporangium. Figure P shows a single sporangium of Phytophthora palmivora . The sporangia are wind-dispersed, land on a plant surface and their contents differentiate to produce zoospores . These features are important in practice because they can provide targets for the actions of antifungal agents.
Fungi are haploid , whereas the other major groups of eukaryotes are diploid.
Fungal cell membranes contain ergosterol , whereas animals have cholesterol and plants have sitosterol and other 'phytosterols'. And several fungicides used for plant disease control act by disrupting specific steps in the ergosterol synthesis pathway. Fungi synthesise the amino acid lysine by a unique pathway , different from that of other organisms. See Fungal tip growth . The microtubules of fungi have unique binding affinity for anti-tubulin agents .