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Biology: Concepts and Investigations

Marielle Hoefnagels

Chapter 20

Fungi - all with Video Answers

Educators

Chapter Questions

03:19

Problem 1

Give examples of fungi that are important economically, ecologically, and as food for humans.

Jenny Wu
Jenny Wu
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02:50

Problem 2

Fungi and animals are both heterotrophs. What does this mean? How do fungi and animals differ in how they obtain food?

Sana Riaz
Sana Riaz
Numerade Educator
02:04

Problem 3

Suppose you are digging in forest soil and find a stringy, whitish structure. If you had access to a microscope, what features would you look for to determine whether the object is a plant root or a fungus?

Jenny Wu
Jenny Wu
Numerade Educator
06:00

Problem 4

Create a Venn diagram including the characteristics of fungi animals, and plants.

Sana Riaz
Sana Riaz
Numerade Educator
04:29

Problem 5

What characteristics distinguish each phylum of fungi?

Sana Riaz
Sana Riaz
Numerade Educator
03:38

Problem 6

Many fungi produce chemicals that inhibit bacterial growth. Why might the genes encoding these chemicals be adaptive to fungi?

Sana Riaz
Sana Riaz
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07:31

Problem 7

Review figure $19.5,$ which shows the alternation of generations in plants. Compare and contrast the life cycles of zygomycetes, ascomycetes, and basidiomycetes with the basic plant life cycle.

Sana Riaz
Sana Riaz
Numerade Educator
02:50

Problem 8

Sketch each of the following structures: mycelium; ascus with ascospores; zoospore; zygospore; basidium with basidiospores.

Jenny Wu
Jenny Wu
Numerade Educator
01:04

Problem 9

Create a table with three columns. Write the following terms in the first column: mycelium, zygospore, basidium, conidium, and hyphae. Define the terms in the second column, and classify the terms as diploid, dikaryotic, or haploid in the third column.

Josee Pacheco
Josee Pacheco
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08:54

Problem 10

How are hyphae similar to plant roots? How are these structures different?

Sana Riaz
Sana Riaz
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05:00

Problem 11

Describe the difference between sexual and asexual reproduction in zygomycetes. Why might asexual reproduction be more common than sexual reproduction?

Sana Riaz
Sana Riaz
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02:39

Problem 12

Other than shared DNA sequences, what characteristics place ascomycetes and basidiomycetes together as sister groups?

Jenny Wu
Jenny Wu
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01:10

Problem 13

Each ascus within an ascomycete fruiting body contains eight cells. Are these cells haploid, diploid, or dikaryotic? Is every cell within an ascus genetically unique? What is the fate of each cell?

Josee Pacheco
Josee Pacheco
Numerade Educator
07:48

Problem 14

An ascomycete causes chestnut blight, a disease that has killed most of the chestnut trees in the United States. If you were a plant breeder trying to bring back the chestnut, how would you use artificial selection to create disease-resistant varieties of the tree?

Sana Riaz
Sana Riaz
Numerade Educator
09:44

Problem 15

Compare and contrast endophytes, mycorthizae, and lichens.

Sana Riaz
Sana Riaz
Numerade Educator
10:25

Problem 16

Use the Internet to find examples of chytrids, zygomycetes, ascomycetes, and basidiomycetes that cause diseases in plants or animals. How does each fungus infect a host and spread to new hosts? What can humans do to fight each disease? What are the costs and benefits of doing so?

Jenny Wu
Jenny Wu
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05:39

Problem 17

Some endophytes produce compounds that fight bacteria, making them potential new sources of antibiotics. Describe an experimental method that would allow you to screen endophytes for antibacterial activity.

Jenny Wu
Jenny Wu
Numerade Educator
03:36

Problem 18

Describe how experiments might show that
a. chytrids are killing amphibians.
b. fungi benefit more from a lichen relationship than do algae.
c. bacteria help leaf-cutting ants cultivate one fungus while killing another.
d. overharvesting of mycorrhizal basidiomycetes harms forest health.
e. mold on a building's walls can cause illness in the building's occupants.

Josee Pacheco
Josee Pacheco
Numerade Educator
04:00

Problem 19

Genome sequencing projects are complete or in progress for many fungi other than Neurospora crassa. Search the Internet for a list of these fungi, choose one, and describe some discoveries that have come from research on the species you chose.

Jenny Wu
Jenny Wu
Numerade Educator
08:38

Problem 20

Why might it be challenging to produce drugs that treat fungal infections without harming human cells?

Sana Riaz
Sana Riaz
Numerade Educator
15:31

Problem 21

White nose syndrome is an illness that weakens and kills bats roosting in caves. Affected animals have a white fungus around their muzzle and on their wings, but no one knows if the fungus causes the illness or simply infects bats that are weakened by some other disease. White nose syndrome was discovered in 2006 and has since spread to several states in the eastern and midwestern United States. Search the Internet for the latest information about white nose syndrome, then propose a testable hypothesis to explain how the fungus might have entered bat populations. What information would you need to determine whether the fungus actually causes the disease? How can people help prevent the spread of the fungus from cave to cave? If the disease continues to spread, how might the widespread death of bats affect ecosystems?

Sana Riaz
Sana Riaz
Numerade Educator
09:20

Problem 22

Create a graph showing the number of species in each group of fungi. Which group is least diverse? Based on the habitats and reproductive structures of these fungi, propose an explanation for their relatively low diversity.

Sana Riaz
Sana Riaz
Numerade Educator