FUNGI: The following is an excerpt from the Bio2e textbook…
FUNGI: The following is an excerpt from the Bio2e textbook about the characteristics of fungi. Based on what you know about features found in all animals, what would be the BEST way to distinguish whether an unknown species was an animal or fungus? Fungi, once considered plant-like organisms, are more closely related to animals than plants. Fungi are not capable of photosynthesis: they are heterotrophic because they use complex organic compounds as sources of energy and carbon. Fungi share a few other traits with animals. Their cell walls are composed of chitin, which is found in the exoskeletons of arthropods. Fungi produce a number of pigments, including melanin, also found in the hair and skin of animals. Like animals, fungi also store carbohydrates as glycogen. However, like bacteria, fungi absorb nutrients across the cell surface and act as decomposers, helping to recycle nutrients by breaking down organic materials to simple molecules. Some fungal organisms multiply only asexually, whereas others undergo both asexual reproduction and sexual reproduction with alternation of generations. Most fungi produce a large number of spores, which are haploid cells that can undergo mitosis to form multicellular, haploid individuals.