Biology / Unit 8: Classification and Diversity of Life
8.4 Protists and Fungi
Notes
Protists are eukaryotes that are not plants, animals or fungi. Fungi are heterotrophs that absorb their food.
- Animal-like protists (protozoa) such as amoebas and paramecia move and eat other organisms.
- Plant-like protists (algae) photosynthesize and make much of Earth's oxygen.
- Fungus-like protists (slime molds) decompose material.
- Some protists cause disease, like malaria (spread by mosquitoes).
- Fungi include mushrooms, molds and yeasts. Their bodies are made of threads called hyphae; they reproduce with spores.
- Fungi are major decomposers and form partnerships with plant roots (mycorrhizae).
Practice
Which protist is plant-like?
Algae have chloroplasts and photosynthesize.
Mushrooms growing on a fallen log are acting as:
Fungi break down dead material and recycle nutrients.
The thread-like structures that make up the body of a fungus are called:
Hyphae form a network called a mycelium.
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