They may become noticeable when fruiting, either as mushrooms or as molds. Fungi include symbionts of plants, animals, or other fungi and also parasites. In the past, mycology was regarded as a branch of botany, although it is now known fungi are genetically more closely related to animals than to plants.Ībundant worldwide, most fungi are inconspicuous because of the small size of their structures, and their cryptic lifestyles in soil or on dead matter. The discipline of biology devoted to the study of fungi is known as mycology (from the Greek μύκης mykes, mushroom). This fungal group is distinct from the structurally similar myxomycetes (slime molds) and oomycetes (water molds). they form a monophyletic group), an interpretation that is also strongly supported by molecular phylogenetics. These and other differences place fungi in a single group of related organisms, named the Eumycota ( true fungi or Eumycetes), that share a common ancestor (i.e. Fungi are the principal decomposers in ecological systems. Growth is their means of mobility, except for spores (a few of which are flagellated), which may travel through the air or water. Fungi, like animals, are heterotrophs they acquire their food by absorbing dissolved molecules, typically by secreting digestive enzymes into their environment. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from the other eukaryotic kingdoms, which by one traditional classification include Plantae, Animalia, Protozoa, and Chromista.Ī characteristic that places fungi in a different kingdom from plants, bacteria, and some protists is chitin in their cell walls. A fungus ( plural: fungi or funguses ) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms.
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