A total mis-use of Blogging... Answers to p140

Page 140…
1. The main features that are missing from the classification of fungi to make it a plant would be: no photosynthesis, many nuclei per cell, have no roots, do not reproduce by seed, have no/less storage molecules and have chitin in cell walls.

2. Umm, see answer 1… really I already listed everything that makes it distinct… perhaps number 1 only wanted “no photosynthesis”!

3. Mycelium – a mesh of tiny filaments that help with nutrient absorption (not part of sexual reproduction).
Spore – a haploid specialized sex cell, it is a reproductive package (sprouts like a seed). It is made in the sporangia structure.
Hypha – See figure 2 – the mycelium are made up of hypha… that is what the filaments are called. They allow cytoplasm to flow from cell to cell with nutrients. It is a non-reproductive part of the fungi… since it has a haploid number the hypha can fuse with another parent and then reproduction begins. White cap mushrooms are hyphas.
Sporangia – the reproductive structure of the fungi, responsible for spore production.

4. Who knows… the information is poorly written here…
From Wikipedia…
Asexual reproduction via vegetative spores or through mycelial fragmentation is common in many fungal species and allows more rapid dispersal than sexual reproduction. In the case of the "Fungi imperfecti" or Deuteromycota, which lack a sexual cycle, it is the only means of propagation. Asexual spores, upon germination, may found a population that is clonal to the population from which the spore originated, and thus colonize new environments.

Sexual
It differs in many aspects from sexual reproduction in animals or plants. Most fungi have both a haploid and diploid stage in their life cycles. In all sexually reproducing fungi, compatible individuals combine by cell fusion of vegetative hyphae by anastomosis, required for the initiation of the sexual cycle. Ascomycetes and basidiomycetes go through a dikaryotic stage, in which the nuclei inherited from the two parents do not fuse immediately after cell fusion, but remain separate in the hyphal cells (see dikayrotic). After that they are now a diploid nucleus and undergo meiosis to produce 4 haploid spores… babies.

5. Amanita “Destroying angels”– poisonous mushrooms
Effects – abdominal pain and cramps, vomiting, and eventual death.
Causes – toxins in the mushroom that enter the blood stream. They affect the nervous system and can cause hallucinations, and “drunkenness”
Treatment – depends on species ingested – see page 138
How can it be avoided… Uhmmm don’t eat mushrooms!

6. Role of partner
Mycorrizae – help roots of plants absorb nutrients. Plants then release sugars for the fungi to survive on. Some plant seeds will not germinate without the fungi in the soil… pollution kills the fungi… not good.
Lichens – its partner is a green algae or cyanobacteria (a photo synthesizer). The lichen’s mycelium surrounds the photosynthetic cells and provides it with nutrients for photosynthesis. The algae share the sugars with the lichen. The mycelium provides structure to the symbiotic cells. Lichens help with primary succession – grade 10 Ecology – the re-introduction of species to a life-less area.

7 Figure 8 – as crustose (flat, or crusty mat on rocks or bark), foliose (leaflike lobes and looks like paper) or fruticose (raised with stalks and branching which can hang from trees)…
a) reindeer moss – fruticose
b) British soldiers - fruticose

Does anyone else think this part of the textbook was confusing and not helpful? Lets blog it!