LECTURER: PROF. OYEKA
Fungi are
nucleated, spore bearing,
achlorophyllous ( without chlorophyll) organisms which generally
reproduce sexually and asexually and whose usually filamentous, branched body
structures are typically surrounded by cell wall containing cellulose or chitin
or both. Fungi are eukaryotic and multicellular
microorganisms unlike bacteria that are prokaryotic and unicellular
microorganisms. Yeasts are however eukaryotic and unicellular
In a simple terms, this means that fungi have without doubt typical true nucleus in their cell cytoplasm, that they reproduce by means of spores, and that they have no chlorophyll. It means further that most fungi possess some sort of sexual mechanism that they have threadlike bodies . Some true fungi are however net thread like or filamentous. Some true algae, because they have lost their chlorophyll through evolution, fit the above definition but they are not fungi. Organisms classified as fungi include moulds (mold), mildews, yeasts smuts, mushrooms and puff balls.