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Definition of Fungi

Living organisms in nature are largely divided into five categories.
They are Monera, Protista, Mycota, Plantae, and Animalia.

Living organisms live together.
When animals and plants die, prokaryotes decompose and convert them into nutrients, which make plants grow, and plants are used by animals and fungi to make useful organic materials. Each plays their own role, maintaining an indissoluble relationship.

Among these, fungi are composed of thread-like connected cells called hyphae, which play a similar role to leaves, stems, and roots in plants.
Hyphae have no chlorophyll and cannot synthesize nutrients on their own, so fungi grow by decomposing other organic materials or by absorbing nutrients through parasitism or symbiosis.

The proliferation of fungi is accomplished by scattering spores.
A spore is a cell transformed from a part of the hyphae and plays a role similar to a flower or fruit in a plant.
Different fungi have organs of various shapes that produce spores, and many types of higher fungi form an organ called a mushroom to scatter their spores.

Fungi are classified into three groups: saprophyte, parasite and symbiotic
  • The saprophyte takes nutrients by decomposing dead materials, and grows in soil, compost, leaf mold, dead leaves, and old trees.
  • The parasite takes nourishment from hosts, and usually causes damage to insects, animals, and trees.
    For example, Piptoporus betulinus or Armillariella mellea is parasitic on Japanese white birches and mulberry trees, and causes damage to their hosts as they grow.
  • Symbiotic fungi live by sharing mutual advantages with their hosts.
    Typical examples include mycorrhizae, which are symbiotic with tree roots, and lichens, which are symbiotic with algae.
    Mushrooms that live symbiotically with trees not only obtain sugars, the products of photosynthesis from trees, but also provide nutrients such as inorganic materials, phosphorus, and nitrogen, so it helps the growth of trees and gives great help to the ecology of the forest.

Mushroom

Mushrooms differ from green plants in that they have no chlorophyll and cannot synthesize nutrients, so they live as heterotrophs, taking organic materials by depending on other plants or animals. When a spore germinates, it forms fine hyphae.
The lump that masses from the hyphae is called a mycelium, and the fruit body produced from the mycelium is called a mushroom.

Fruit bodies are largely divided into pileus, gills and stems, and form spores on their gill surfaces that are distributed for reproduction.
Spores are usually spread by the wind, but the spores of Crucibulum laeve are splashed around by raindrops, and the spores of Mutinus caninus are spread by insects such as flies.
Mushrooms are most abundant in humid forests where conditions such as humidity, temperature, and nourishment are favorable.

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