On what basis could we readily distinguish fungi from algae?

Answer 1

1. Fungi are eukaryotic
2. The majority are multicellular ( yeast is single celled)
3. Lack chlorophyll
4. Nutritionally they are heterotrophic, they digest food outside the body and absorb it . They are saprophytes, parasites and some are mutualistic.
5. Their basic body plan constitutes a mass of netlike filaments called hyphae. The entire mass is called the mycelium. Most fungal hyphae are divided into cells by cross walls called septa. Some fungi are aseptate, lacking cross walls. They are said to be coenocytic. Some types of fungi contain lateral hyphae that absorb nutrients from other organisms, called haustoria.
6. Reproduction is accomplished by the release of sexual or asexual spores. For many species of fungi sexual reproduction is a contingency used when environmental conditions are difficult. Under favorable conditions asexual spores are produced by the millions and dispersed over a large area.
Haploid conditions prevail in the life cycles of most fungi. Conjugation occurs in many fungal species.
The term algae embraces all photosynthetic protists. It refers to an aquatic, photosynthetic way of life, not an evolutionary kinship. Most algae live in water, but some are terrestrial. Most algae live near the surface of the water producing 30 to 50 percent of the earth's oxygen. Algae are classified on the basis of conservative characteristics such as the type of cell wall, flagella, photosynthetic pigments, and the form in which food is stored.
Phylum Dinoflagellata (Pyrrophyta) Dinoflagellates are unicellular or colonial organisms with two flagella: one attached centrally and the other at the rear of the organism. About half the species contain a cellulose "armor" just under the plasma membrane. Half the species are photosynthetic containing chlorophylls a and c and various carotenoids, and store their food in the form of oils and starch. Many dinoflagellates are colorless and live as heterotrophs and parasites. Some produce nerve poisons toxic to vertebrates. "Red Tide" is caused by a bloom of red pigmented dinoflagellates.
Phylum Euglenida Most members of this group live in fresh water, being especially abundant in polluted habitats. Many euglenoids contain two flagella and contain a hard pellicle made of protein just under the plasma membrane. Their chloroplasts contain chlorophyll a and b and carotenoids. Many contain a red eyespot, which is thought to be used as a photoreceptor. Euglenoids reproduce asexually by dividing lengthwise into two. They do not reproduce sexually.
Phylum Bacillariophyta: Diatoms Diatoms are probably the most abundant aquatic eukaryotes in number of individuals and species. They live singly or in simple filaments or colonies, they occur in either type of aquatic environment. They reproduce sexually and are basically non motile. Most unicellular algae are haploid but diatoms are diploid. They contain chlorophyll a and c and the accessory pigment fucoxanthin, a carotenoid that give them a yellow-brown color. They store food as oil and the polysaccharide chrysolaminarin. The most distinctive feature of diatoms is the intricately patterned cell wall. The two piece cell wall is impregnated with silica. Silica does not decay so large amounts of glasslike material is deposited on the ocean floor as the diatoms die.
Phylum Chrysophyta: Golden Algae Golden algae occur as single cells or as colonies of great diversity and complexity. Most are freshwater, a few marine. They contain two unlike flagella, chlorophyll a and c and fucoxanthin pigments. Some lake dwelling golden algae are both heterotrophic and autotrophic.
Phylum Phaeophyta: Brown Algae These algae are all multicellular. They contain chlorophyll a and c and fucoxanthin pigments. Since the pigments and stored foods are identical with those of the Chrysophyta, it is thought that the brown algae evolved from the less complex golden algae. Most brown algae live in the cool waters off the temperate and sub polar areas. Members of the genus Fucus are good examples. Their algal body is the thallus, a multicellular structure that looks like a plant but has no vascular tissue. It is attached to the surface of rocks by a structures called a holdfast. Phylum Rhodophyta: Red Algae Red algae contains single cells as well as thalli that grow as filaments, branching structures, and broad flat plates or ruffles. The chloroplast of the red algae show strong evidence of descent from cyanobacteria. The arrangement of photosynthetic membranes are similar. Both have chlorophyll a as their only chlorophyll and the accessory phycobilin pigments: phycocyanin and phycoerytherin. Red algae stores their food as floridean starch. No red algae has flagella, even in sperm cells. Most red algae are marine, with a few freshwater and terrestrial forms.
Chlorophyta: Green Algae The ancestors of all plants were undoubtedly members of phylum Chlorophyta. Green algae show great diversity of form and live in a variety of habitats. Many are single celled; others form simple or branched filaments, or hollow balls of cells, or broad flat sheets. There is no tissue differentiation. The chloroplasts of algae contain chlorophylls a and b as well as beta carotene. They store their food as starch. The reproductive cycle demonstrates an alternation of generations.

Answer 2

Fungi do not have the ability of convering CO2 and H2O to sugar and other organic molecules that algae can using sunlight. This means that fungi have to live off of other plants or animals, often after they have died. Even the fungi that live on human skin, tenia, athletes foot, and jock itch are mainly living off of the dead skin cells although they irritate the living cells and nerves.

You could experimentally distinguish fungi from algae by measuring the decrease in CO2 and the increase in O2 in a closed container with algae and another one with a fungi in ti exposed to sunlight.

You might also distinguish them by the increase in sugars in algae.

Answer 3

By definition, algae are photosynthetic organisms that are usually unicellular, although "seaweeds" also fall into this category. They also have a cell wall that is "plant-like", often made of cellulose. Fungi, on the other hand, are multicellular organisms (except for yeast) that do not photosynthesize and are thus dependent on an outside food source for their survival. They also have cell wall, but these cell walls are made of a modified carbohydrate called chitin.

Answer 4

Actually, the Bible doesn't state that only things that have blood have life. It states that people who worshipped God were not to eat the blood of animals, as "the life is in the blood". This was given as a rule because many pagan societies did eat the blood of various animals to try to gain their strengths or attributes - God wanted his people to stay away from pagan rituals. Their strength was to be given by him. This section was for food laws...the people of that day didn't eat plants, fungi, algae, bacteria, and viruses as parts of pagan rituals. Therefore, God didn't include a biology lesson on botany and microbiology. :) If you look a little further though, you'll see where he warned against contagions and contagious diseases (quarantining people for what we now know to be the life span of the contagion), talking about how plants grow and die (just like other living things), and other passages that match what we know today about science. The people of that day simply didn't have a need to know that.

Answer 5

algae have chlorophyll and synthesis their food, whereas fungi have no chlorophyll and absorb nutrients from their surroundings (host ). fungi are generally parasites ,and algae are independent living organisms.

Answer 6

Algae have chlorophyll, which allow them to perform the chemical reactions mentioned above.

Answer 7

algae are photoautotrophic
fungi are hetero trophs