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The English word fungus is directly adopted from the Latin fungus (mushroom), used in the writings of Horace and Pliny. [10] This in turn is derived from the Greek word sphongos (σφόγγος 'sponge'), which refers to the macroscopic structures and morphology of mushrooms and molds; [11] the root is also used in other languages, such as the German Schwamm ('sponge') and Schimmel ('mold').
These fungi are said to be homothallic, versus the normal heterothallic species with mating types. Others are secondarily homothallic, in that two compatible nuclei following meiosis migrate into each basidiospore, which is then dispersed as a pre-existing dikaryon. Often such species form only two spores per basidium, but that too varies.
Fungi and bacteria could have contributed to the phenylpropanoid pathway in ancestral land plants for the synthesis of flavonoids and lignin through horizontal gene transfer. Phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) is known to be present in fungi, such as Basidiomycota yeast like Rhodotorula and Ascomycota such as Aspergillus and Neurospora .
Ca. G. sporarum, on the other hand, has been found to increase the content of fatty acids, a method of usable organic carbon storage, in G. margarita while relying heavily on its AM fungi host to provide key nutrients suggesting that nutrient exchange is a two-way interaction. The AM fungi host relies on the plant host for its nutrients.
Animals and fungi are also more closely related to amoebas than to plants, and plants are more closely related to the SAR supergroup of protists than to animals or fungi. [citation needed] Animals and fungi are both heterotrophs, unlike plants, and while fungi are sessile like plants, there are also sessile animals.
Aspergillus niger is a prime example of this; it can be found growing on damp walls, as a major component of mildew. [ citation needed ] Several species of Aspergillus , including A. niger and A. fumigatus , will readily colonise buildings, [ 7 ] favouring warm and damp or humid areas such as bathrooms and around window frames .
Biologists classify these organisms as a kingdom, Fungi, the second highest taxonomic rank of living organism beneath the Eukaryota domain; other kingdoms include plants, animals, protists, and bacteria. One difference that places fungi in a different kingdom is that their cell walls contain chitin, unlike the cell walls of plants, bacteria and ...
The ecological roles of these fungi are diverse and still poorly understood. These endophyte plant interactions are widespread and have been found in nearly all land plants and ecosystems. [43] Many non-clavicipitaceous endophytes have the ability to switch between endophytic behavior and free-living lifestyles.