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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').
While white-rot fungi specialized in catabolizing lignin, they are also capable of metabolizing other common organic forms of carbon like cellulose. Cellulose is also a laborious molecule to cleave. [26] First, cellobiohydrolases, found in all white-rot fungi, hydrolyze the 1,4-beta-D-glycosidic bonds partially degrading cellulose. [27]
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to fungi and mycology: . Fungi – "Fungi" is plural for "fungus". A fungus is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes unicellular microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as multicellular fungi that produce familiar fruiting forms known as mushrooms.
A mold (US, PH) or mould (UK, CW) is one of the structures that certain fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of spores containing fungal secondary metabolites. The spores are the dispersal units of the fungi. [1] [2] Not all fungi form molds.
Through the mycelium, a fungus absorbs nutrients from its environment. It does this in a two-stage process. First, the hyphae secrete enzymes onto or into the food source, which break down biological polymers into smaller units such as monomers. These monomers are then absorbed into the mycelium by facilitated diffusion and active transport.
Here, "macro" and "micro" do not refer to size, but to the growth form. [4] Common names for lichens may contain the word moss (e.g., "reindeer moss", "Iceland moss"), and lichens may superficially look like and grow with mosses, but they are not closely related to mosses or any plant.
The plasmodium eventually transforms into a sponge-like aethalium, analogous to the spore-bearing fruiting body of a mushroom; which then degrades, darkening in color, and releases its dark-colored spores. F. septica produces the largest aethalium of any slime mold. [8] This species is known to have its spores dispersed by beetles (family ...
A fungus which only contains this type, as do fleshy mushrooms such as agarics, is referred to as monomitic. If a fungus contains the obligate generative hyphae (as mentioned in the last point, "every fungus must contain generative hyphae") and just one of the other two types (either skeletal or binding hyphae), it is called dimitic .