Master Fungi Basic Characteristics with Picmonic for Pre-Health

Fungi are a kingdom of organisms that are described as eukaryotic heterotrophs. The basic functional units of most fungi are hyphae, which are filamentous thread-like structures that grow from the tips and typically contain multiple nuclei. A collection of hyphae together is referred to as a mycelium. Fungi have cell walls made of chitin, a polysaccharide, and have internal "cross-walls" called septa that are the dividers separating hyphae into individual cells. Fungi are known to be saprophytic, meaning they feed primarily off dead organic matter. Some of them, however, can be pathogenic and feed on living organisms. In order to digest dead organic matter, they use digestive enzymes that are excreted through the cell wall. Once the material is broken down, the cell absorbs the nutrients. Fungi can reproduce sexually if conditions are unfavorable or asexually if conditions are favorable. Sexual reproduction happens between two type-compatible fungi (often denoted as + or -). The hyphae fuse into an interconnected network and eventually undergo karyogamy (fusion of nuclei). The organism is briefly dikaryotic before fusion of nuclei, but becomes diploid after fusion. Meiosis then occurs followed by sporulation and the release of haploid spores. Asexual reproduction in most fungi is via mitotic division into spores, which are dispersed and eventually form new hyphae upon landing. Yeast reproduces asexually through budding. Both methods of asexual reproduction result in genetically identical spores and daughter organisms, while sexual reproduction results in genetic diversification.