Question

In which phase does fungus rapidly absorb nutrients from the substratum?

Answer 1

Nutrition in fungi:

1. Fungi are achlorophyllous organisms that are why they cannot synthesize their food.
2. These are found as parasites or saprophytes.
3. Parasites absorb their nutrition from the host. These can be facultative or obligate.
4. Saprophytes absorb their nutrition from dead materials.

Assimilative or Vegetative phase:

1. The fungus rapidly absorbs nutrients from the substratum during the assimilative or vegetative phase.
2. Normally, all fungi go through two stages or phases in their life cycle. These phases are the vegetative or assimilative phase and the reproductive phase.
3. Vegetative phase: In this phase, they go speedily in the good-giving substratum. Cheese, bread, wood, etc. are some of the examples of food stratum. Coprophilous fungi can be found in cow dung and dead parts of plants like fallen leaves.
4. Reproductive phase: In this phase, erect hyphae start developing and producing reproductive structures. In unicellular yeasts, the entire cell becomes a reproductive structure. This is the holocarpic condition. In other fungi, reproductive structures develop from a part of the vegetative body and the condition is called eucarpic.