7Th Gr Science-From Bacteria To Plants Ch 3 Sec 3

Front 1

Fungi

Back 1

Fungi are 1) eukaryotes (single-celled or multicellular organisms whose cells contain a distinct membrane-bound nucleus), 2) they use spores to reproduce, and 3) they are heterotrophs (organisms that cannot make their own food). They need moist, warm places in which to grow. They thrive on moist foods, damp tree barks, lawns coated with dew, damp forest floors, and even wet bathroom tiles.

Front 2

Hyphae

Back 2

Branching, threadlike tubes that make up the bodies of multicellular fungi.

Front 3

How do fungi obtain food?

Back 3

First, the fungus grows hyphae into a food source. Second, digestive chemicals ooze from the tips of the hyphae into the food. Third, The digestive chemicals break down the food into small substances that can be absorbed by the hyphae. Some fungi feed on the remains of dead organisms. Other fungi are parasites that break down the chemicals in living organisms.

Front 4

Reproduction in Fungi

Back 4

Most fungi reproduce both asexually and sexually. When there is adequate moisture and food, most fungi reproduce asexually by growing fruiting bodies that release thousands of spores. Spores can be carried easily through air or water to new sites. Fungi produce many more spores than will ever grow into new fungi. Only a few of the thousands of spores that a fungus releases will fall where conditions are right for them to grow into new organisms. When growing conditions become unfavorable, fungi may reproduce sexually. In sexual reproduction, the hyphae of two fungi grow together. A new spore-producing structure grows from the joined hyphae. The new structure produces spores, which can develop into fungi that differ from either parent.

Front 5

Fruiting Body

Back 5

The reproductive hypha of a fungus.

Front 6

Budding

Back 6

A form of asexual reproduction of yeast in which a new yeast cell grows out of the body of a parent.

Front 7

How do fungi affect humans and other organisms?

Back 7

Fungi
1) can work as decomposers (organisms that break down the chemicals in dead organisms)
2) are useful with food production (yeast for making bread, yeast for making wine, mushrooms used in food, molds used in the production of cheese like blue cheese)
3) can cause disease in food (corn, wheat, rice, cotton, and soybeans) and humans (Athlete's foot and Ringworm)
4) can fight disease (Penicillin and other antibiotics)
5) can help plants grow larger and healthier when their hyphae grow among the plant's roots.

Front 8

Lichen

Back 8

The combination of a fungus and either an alga or an autotrophic bacteria that live together in a mutualistic relationship. They are the first organisms to appear on bare rocks after a volcano, fire, or rock slide. They break down rock into soil in which organisms can grow. They are also useful indicators of air pollution, they die when air pollution levels rise.