Kingdom Fungi Concept Questions

1. What are some similarities and differences between fungi and plants?

2. Aniline blue stains the cell walls of fungi more easily than plant cell walls. What substance in fungi do you think aniline blue binds to? Explain your answer.

3. Given your knowledge of fungi, what growth conditions might favor the fungus that causes athlete’s foot?

4. Explain the difference between a saprobe and a parasite.

5. How are fungi important to other forms of life?

6. What characteristic of yeast makes it an unusual fungus?

7. Most mushroom mycelia grow in the soil. Why do mushroom fruiting bodies

8. Other than mushrooms, what are uses humans have found for fungi?

9. A spore may develop hundreds of kilometers away from its origin. Explain how this is so.

10. Both humans and fungi are heterotrophs. Contrast the way fungi obtain food with the way humans do.

11. Why are fungi a more serious problem to agriculture in tropical regions of the world than they are in temperate regions?

12. Tissues from several mushrooms were collected near the base of a tree were tested and found to be genetically identical. How can you explain this?

13. The antibiotic penicillin is a natural secretion of a certain kind of fungus called Penicillium. Penicillin kills bacteria. Why might a fungus have evolved a way to kill bacteria?