Chapter 29 Fungi Biological Diversity

Fungi – a lineage of eukaryotes that typically have a filamentous body (mycelium) and obtain nutrients by absorption 

Mutualists – an organism that is a participant and partner in a mutualistic relationship 

Mycorrhizal – describes a fungus that lives symbiotically with roots of vascular plants 

Mycorrhizae –a mutualistic association between certain fungi and the roots of most vascular plants, sometimes visible as nodules or nets in or around plant roots 

Ectomycorrhizal fungi – fungi whose hyphae form a dense network that covers their host plant’s root but do not enter the root cells 

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (endomycorrhizal fungi) - fungi from the glomeromycotan lineage whose hyphae enter the root cells of their host plants 

Saprophyte – an organism that feeds primarily on dead plant material 

Yeasts – any fungus growing as a single-cell form 

Mycelium – a mass of underground filaments (hyphae) that form the body of a fungus 

Hyphae – one of the long, branching strands of a fungal mycelium (the mesh-like body of a fungus) 

Lichens – a mutualistic association of a fungus, often in the Ascomycota lineage, and a photosynthetic alga or cyanobacterium 

Extracellular Digestion – the process of breaking down food outside of a cell, typically in the gut, to make nutrients available for absorption into the bloodstream 

Lignin Degradation – the process of breaking down lignin, a complex chemical compound that protects wood cell walls form microorganisms 

Cellulose Digestion – the breakdown of cellulose, a complex carbohydrate found in plant cell walls, into smaller sugar molecules that can be absorbed by an organism