1.  The fungi are heterotrophic organisms that obtain nutrition through absorption.  They include both saphrophytic and parasitic forms.

2.  All fungi have a body composed of hyphae, long filaments that form an interconnecting mass known as the mycelium.  The mycelium constitutes the "feeding body" portion of a fungus.

  Hyphae forming a mycelium

3.  We viewed three phyla or divisions of fungi in the lab.  These divisions are based on the method of sexual reproduction.

    a.  Phylum Zygomocota (zygote fungi)

        Example: Rhizopus stolonifer or black bread mold

        Be able to identify the three types of hyphae in the bread mold:

         rhizoids, stolons, and sporangiophores

    b.  Phylum Ascomycota (sac fungi)

        Example: yeasts, cup fungi  

    c.  Phylum Basidiomycota (club fungi)

        Examples: mushrooms, bracket fungi, puffballs

4.  Fungi play important roles as lichens.  Be sure you can recognize the three body forms of a lichen: crustose, foliose, and fruticose  

       

crustose--crust-like               foliose--leaf-like             fruticose--shrub-like

5.  Fungi also play an important role as mycorrhizia and increase the surface area of most plant roots.