Mutualistic fungi live on other organisms, however in contrast to parasitism, mutualism benefits all involved organisms. The fungi get nutrition, mainly carbohydrates, from their partners, but also give something back to them. Below, different forms of mutualism found in fungi are explained with examples. Symbiotic relationships Mutualism :: Both individuals benefit Parasitism :: One individual […]
Parasitic and pathogenic fungi obtain their nutrition from other living organisms, and have a negative effect upon the individuals – hosts – they are parasites on. As the diversity of potential hosts declines as you move further north towards the Arctic, so does the diversity of parasitic fungi. Complicated life cycles coupled with short growing
Saprotrophic fungi degrade dead organisms or their remains, such as litter or dung. Depending on their mode of breaking down cellulose or lignin, we recognise brown rot fungi and white rot fungi. Brown rot fungi only breaks down cellulose (a carbohydrate chain polymer) and leaves lignin (a phenolic three dimension polymer) intact. The substrate becomes
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Fungi are heterotrophic organisms feeding by osmotrophy. Their ecology can be divided into saprotrophs, parasites and mutualists. However, transitions exist between all these groups. Most fungi in the arctic environment also occur in alpine ecosystems at lower latitudes. Very few are restricted to the arctic areas. Fungi growing on arctic seashores, e.g. Arrhenia salina, are
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Modern fungal systematics is based upon genetic analysis. However, and structure of the hyphal cells are also important. Below you will find an overview of recognised phyla. You can either use the interactive presentation, where you can zoom into each phylum and find information about the phylum-characteristics and pictures of representatives, or you can find
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The fungal kingdom (Fungi) is related to the animal kingdom. They separated approximately 1.5 billion years ago. Like animals and plants, fungi are eukaryotes, which means the cells contain cell-bound organelles and a nucleus. They are heterotrophic, like animals, but in contrast to most of them they exhibit external digestion. Like plants, they have vacuoles
