Eventually, the dikaryon forms sexual sporangia in which the nuclei fuse into one, which then undergoes meiosis to form haploid spores, and the cycle is repeated. Some fungi, especially the chytrids and zygomycetes, have a life cycle more like that found in many protists . The organism is haploid, and has no diploid phase, except for the sexual sporangium. A number of fungi have lost the capacity for sexual reproduction, and reproduce by asexual spores or by vegetative growth only. These fungi are referred to as Fungi Imperfecti, and include, among other members, the athlete's foot and the fungus in bleu cheese.
Fungi are heterotrophic.
Fungi are not able to ingest their food like animals do, nor can they manufacture their own food the way plants do. Instead, fungi feed by absorption of nutrients from the environment around them. They accomplish this by growing through and within the substrate on which they are feeding. Numerous hyphae network through the wood, cheese, soil, or flesh from which they are growing. The hyphae secrete digestive enzymes which break down the substrate, making it easier for the fungus to absorb the nutrients which the substrate contains.