Fungi are among the most important and widely occurring organisms. Here we will study more about the Symbiotic Fungi relationship.
Check out awesome, educational VR rooms on Inspirit's mobile app (available for iOS and Android devices)🤩
There are around 145,000 species of fungi known to humans to date, but according to estimations, the actual number is much higher and goes over 3 million species of fungi!
Yeast, molds, mildews, mushrooms, etc., are all examples of fungi. Fungi have medicinal usage, commercial usage, used as a food product, and several other uses, making them an important organism to humans. These microscopic organisms are not considered fully under the plant kingdom, nor do they completely make it to the animal kingdom.
There are three different ways fungi obtain their nutrition.
1. SAPROTROPH FUNGI
2. PARASITIC FUNGI
3. SYMBIOTIC NUTRITION
Some fungus get photosynthetic sugars from the plants and in exchange, the plant is benefitted from the fungus as it helps them to absorb water and mineral nutrients by putting out the mycelia. This process is mutualism in symbiosis.
Symbiosis is basically a close association between two or more different species. Many fungi show a symbiotic relationship and establish both parasitic and mutualistic associations.
1. PARASITIC SYMBIOSIS
Fungi have special structures to penetrate their hosts.
2. MUTUALISTIC SYMBIOSIS
In mutualism, both partners get mutual benefit. Many fungal mutualisms are because of the ability of the fungus to decompose organic substrates that are not accessible to the host.
Two very common examples of mutualistic symbiosis are:
A. LICHENS
B. MYCORRHIZAE
1. What is fungal symbiosis?
Fungal symbiosis refers to the symbiotic relationship of the fungi. Majorly there are two types of symbiotic relationships exhibited by the fungi. First is parasitic, in which fungus acts as a parasite and second is mutualistic (lichens & mycorrhiza), in which both are mutually benefitted.
2. What is the symbiotic relationship between fungi and humans?
The symbiotic relationship between fungi and humans is mainly parasitic where the fungi act as a parasite. Many fungal infections in humans are an example of this relationship. The athlete's foot is yet again a very common infection in which human is the host of a parasitic fungus.
3. What are the two symbiotic relationships with fungi?
The two symbiotic relationships with fungi are:
4. How do lichens show symbiosis?
Lichens show mutualistic symbiosis. The fungus grows around the bacterial or algal cells. The fungus obtains carbohydrates from the algae, which are photosynthetic and provide the green color to the lichen thallus. The algae benefit from the water and nutrients absorbed by the fungus.
5. What is the role of algae and fungal partners in lichen?
Lichens are formed by the symbiotic relationship of a fungus with algae. The algal partner prepares food for fungi and itself and the fungal partner helps in the absorption of nutrients from the substrate.
6. What mode of nutrition is shown by lichens?
The mode of nutrition in Lichens is- Symbiotic nutrition. Lichens are formed by the symbiotic relationship of a fungus with algae. The algae prepare food for fungi and themselves and fungi help in the absorption of nutrients from the substrate.
We hope you enjoyed studying this lesson and learned something cool about Fungi- Nutrition and Symbiosis! Join our Discord community to get any questions you may have answered and to engage with other students just like you! Don't forget to download our App to experience our fun, VR classrooms - we promise, it makes studying much more fun!😎