Introduction to Fungi

What is the primary characteristic that distinguishes fungi from plants?

What is the term for the study of diseases in plants?

According to the classification, what is the characteristic of fungi in the subdivision Myxomycotina?

What is the function of the cell wall in fungi?

What is the characteristic feature of the hyphae in fungi?

How do fungi in the subdivision Eumycotina reproduce?

What is the term for the mass of filaments in fungi?

What is the primary mode of nutrition in fungi?

What is the primary characteristic of a diseased plant?

What type of disease is caused by a lack of essential elements for growth?

What is the term for diseases caused by parasites that attack and destroy plant tissues?

What is the primary difference between parasitic and non-parasitic diseases?

Which of the following is an example of a physiological disease?

What is the term for diseases that affect the entire plant, rather than just one part?

Which of the following is an example of a bacterial disease?

What is the term for the external characteristics of a diseased plant?

Introduction to Fungi

Fungi are non-vascular plants that reproduce by means of spores and lack roots, stems, and leaves.
They are thallose plants with little differentiation of tissues.
Fungi are unable to synthesize their own food and are often parasites, obtaining nutrients from living organisms or dead organic matter.

Classification of Fungi

In 1886, algae and Eichler divided fungi into two sub-divisions.
Alexopoulos (1962) classified fungi into:
- Myxomycotina (slime moulds): multinucleate, saprophytic, and reproducing by spores resulting from meiosis.
- Eumycotina (true fungi): heterotrophic, lacking plasmodium, with complex nitrogenous cell walls composed of chitin.

Characteristics of Eumycotina

True fungi, heterotrophic, and lacking plasmodium.
Composed of a mass of filaments called hyphae, with a mass of hyphae called mycelium.
Cell walls are composed of complex nitrogenous substances called chitin.
Majority are eucarpic, and some have septation with cross walls.

Plant Pathology

Plant pathology or phytopathology is the science that deals with diseases in plants.
Disease is defined as any deviation from healthy and normal structure, function, or vital activity of a plant.
Symptoms are the external characteristics of a diseased plant.

Classification of Plant Diseases

Non-parasitic or abiotic diseases: due to lack of proper inherent qualities, improper environmental conditions, or mechanical injuries.
Parasitic diseases: caused by living organisms such as fungi, bacteria, viruses, and nematodes.

Causal Agents of Plant Diseases

Fungal diseases: caused by rusts, smuts, and other fungal pathogens.
Bacterial diseases: caused by bacterial pathogens.
Viral diseases: caused by viral pathogens.

Learn about fungi, non-vascular plants that reproduce by spores, and their characteristics, such as lacking roots, stems, and leaves. Discover how they obtain food and their roles in causing diseases and being used as food.