Fungi (fungus, singular) are relatively simple eukaryotic organisms. They are placed in their own kingdom, the Fungus Kingdom. Most fungi are multicellular organisms. These fungi are called molds. However, some fungi exist as single cells. These fungi are called yeasts. You can see examples of different types of fungi in Figure 9.7. For a funny, fast-paced overview of fungi, watch this video: . MEDIA Click image to the left or use the URL below. URL: For a long time, scientists classified fungi as members of the Plant Kingdom. Fungi share several obvious traits with plants. For example, both fungi and plants lack the ability to move. Both grow in soil, and both have cell walls. Some fungi even look like plants. Today, fungi are no longer classified as plants. We now know that they have important traits that set them apart from plants. Thats why they are placed in their own kingdom. How do fungi differ from plants? The cell walls of fungi are made of chitin. Chitin is a tough carbohydrate that also makes up the outer skeleton of insects. The cell walls of plants are made of cellulose. Fungi are heterotrophs that absorb food from other organisms. Plants are autotrophs that make their own food. The Fungus Kingdom is large and diverse. It may contain more than a million species. However, fewer than 100,000 species of fungi have been identified. The earliest fungi evolved about 600 million years ago. They lived in the water. Fungi colonized the land around the same time as plants. That was probably between 400 and 500 million years ago. After that, fungi became very abundant on land. By 250 million years ago, they may have been the dominant life forms on land. Yeasts grow as single cells. Other fungi grow into multicellular, thread-like structures. These structures are called hyphae (hypha, singular). You can see a photo of hyphae in Figure 9.8. They resemble plant roots. Each hypha consists of a group of cells surrounded by a tubular cell wall. A mass of hyphae make up the body of a fungus. The body is called the mycelium (mycelia, plural). A mycelium may range in size from microscopic to very large. In fact, the largest living thing on Earth is the mycelium of a single fungus. Nicknamed the humongous fungus, it grows in a forest in Oregon. A small part of the fungus is pictured in Figure 9.9. The giant fungus covers an area of 2384 acres. Thats about the size of 1,665 football fields! The fungus is estimated to be at least 2400 years old, but it could be much older. Most fungi reproduce both asexually and sexually. In both types of reproduction, they produce spores. A spore is a special reproductive cell. When fungi reproduce asexually, they can spread quickly. This is good when conditions are stable. They can increase their genetic variation by sexual reproduction. This is beneficial when conditions are changing. Variation helps ensure that at least some organisms survive the changing conditions. Figure 9.10 shows how asexual and sexual reproduction occur in fungi. Refer to the figure as you read about each of them below. During asexual reproduction, fungi produce haploid spores by mitosis of a haploid parent cell. A haploid cell has just one of each pair of chromosomes. The haploid spores are genetically identical to the parent cell. Spores may be spread by moving water, wind, or other organisms. Wherever the spores land, they will develop into new hyphae only when conditions are suitable for growth. Yeasts are an exception. They reproduce asexually by budding instead of by producing spores. An offspring cell forms on a parent cell. After it grows and develops, it buds off to form a new cell. The offspring cell is genetically identical to the parent cell. You can see yeast cells budding in Figure 9.11. Sexual reproduction also occurs in most fungi. It happens when two haploid hyphae mate. During mating, two haploid parent cells fuse. The single fused cell that results is a diploid spore. It is genetically different from both parents.
Output: When did the earliest fungi evolve?