Characteristics of Fungi

Most fungi grow as tubular filaments called hyphae. An interwoven mass of hyphae is called a mycelium. The walls of hyphae are often strengthened with chitin, a polymer of Nacetylglucosamine he linkage between the sugars is like that of cellulose and peptidoglycan and produces the same sort of structural rigidity. Fungi disperse themselves by releasing spores, usually windblown. Fungal spores are present almost everywhere (and are a frequent cause of allergies). Spores of the wheat rust fungus have been found at 4000 m in the air and more than 1450 km (900 miles) from the place they were released. No wonder then that most fungi are worldwide in their distribution. Fungi are heterotrophic o Some live as saprophytes, getting their nourishment from the surroundings (often having first digested it by secreting enzymes). They perform a crucial role in nature by decomposing dead organisms and releasing their nutrients for reuse by the living. o Some live in a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship with another organism, often a plant. The association of fungus and plant root is called a mycorrhiza. Some 80% of land plants benefit from symbiotic mycorrhiza. The plant benefits by more-efficient mineral (especially phosphorus) uptake. The fungus benefits by the sugars translocated to the root by the plant.

Mycorrhizal fungi may also form conduits for nutrients between plant species. The colorless, and hence heterotrophic Indian pipe (Monotropa uniflora pictured on the right) is an angiosperm that must secure all its nourishment from mycorrhizal fungi that are attached at the same time to the roots of some autotrophic plant such as a pine tree. Radioactive carbon administered to the pine (as CO2) soon turns up in carbohydrates in nearby Indian pipes.