Abstract
Fungi are osmoheterotrophic eukaryotes that play a key role in sustaining life on earth. Fungi are found in the Kingdom Mycetae (also called Kingdom Fungi) and the Kingdom Straminipila. Their vegetative structure may be filamentous or unicellular. Fungal cell walls are made of chitin, chitosan or polysaccharides. They reproduce by spores produced asexually or sexually. Spores of marine fungi are adapted to aquatic conditions. The Kingdom Mycetae consists of the phyla Chytridiomycota, Neocallimastigomycota, Blastocladiomycota, Kickxellomycota, Entomophthoromycota, Mucoromycota, Glomeromycota, Ascomycota, and Basidiomycota, all of which are osmoheterotrophic and thus are fungi. Fungi in the Kingdom Straminipila are found only in the Classes Hyphochytriomycetes, Oomycetes, and Labyrinthulomycetes, the others being photosynthetic or phagotrophic.
Fungi are the interface organisms between life and death.
Paul Stamets
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Raghukumar, S. (2017). Fungi: Characteristics and Classification. In: Fungi in Coastal and Oceanic Marine Ecosystems. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54304-8_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54304-8_1
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