How does fungi spread to new sources of food Igcse?
They get their food by growing on other living organisms and getting their food from that organism. Other types of fungi get their food from dead matter. These fungi decompose, or break down, dead plants and animals.
How does fungus grow on food?
They grow from tiny spores that float around in the air. When some of these spores fall onto a piece of damp food or other materials, they grow into molds. A mold produces chemicals that make the food break down and start to rot. As the food is broken down into small, simple parts, the mold absorbs them and grows.
How do fungal spores spread?
Being so small and lightweight, spores can easily move unseen in the air currents, and most fungal spores are spread by the wind. Some spores are also spread by water droplets from rain or in streams, and others need help from animals such as flies.
How does fungus grow?
Fungi are very different from plants and animals, and there are so many kinds of fungi. Instead, fungi grow as masses of narrow branched threads called hyphae. These hyphae have thin outer walls, and their food, water and oxygen need to move across the wall into the living fungal cell – a process called absorption.
Where do fungi get their food from?
Fungi are heterotrophic. Fungi are not able to ingest their food like animals do, nor can they manufacture their own food the way plants do. Instead, fungi feed by absorption of nutrients from the environment around them. They accomplish this by growing through and within the substrate on which they are feeding.
What type of fungus grows on food?
The most common types of food mold are:
- Alternaria – most common on meat and poultry.
- Aspergillus – this is one of the worst offenders when it comes to food mold.
- Botrytis cinereal – it is that fluffy greyish mold that devours fruit at lightening speed.
- Cladosporium – most common on meat and poultry.
