Emily Johnson
Mushrooms are a type of fungus, and as such, they belong to the kingdom Fungi, one of the five kingdoms of living things. The other four kingdoms are Animalia, Plantae, Protista, and Monera. Fungi were previously classified as part of the kingdom Plantae due to similarities in lifestyle and morphology. However, phylogenetic studies and advances in molecular genetics have led to the reclassification of fungi as a separate kingdom. This classification is based on characteristics such as their method of reproduction, the presence of cell walls, and their food and digestion processes, which differ from those of plants and animals.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Kingdom | Fungi |
| Number of Phyla | 7 |
| Subkingdom | 1 (Dikarya) |
| Number of Subphyla | 10 |
| Ancestors | Common ancestor with animals and plants |
| Mobility | Unable to move to a new location |
| Cell structure | Multicellular |
| Food | Unable to create food using photosynthesis |
| Reproduction | Through spores |
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What You'll Learn
Mushrooms are in the Fungi kingdom, distinct from the Animalia kingdom
Mushrooms are a type of fungus and are therefore in the Fungi kingdom. While mushrooms may grow alongside plants and trees, they are not the same as plants and belong to a distinct kingdom.
The Fungi kingdom is one of five kingdoms of living things, alongside Animalia, Plantae, Protista, and Monera. The Fungi kingdom is incredibly diverse, encompassing an estimated 2.2 million to 3.8 million species, of which around 148,000 have been described.
The Fungi kingdom is distinct from the Animalia kingdom, which is the most evolved of the five kingdoms. Animals are multicelled, heterotrophic eukaryotes with aerobic respiration, sexual reproduction, and the ability to move. This kingdom includes a vast array of creatures, from mammals and birds to insects and fish.
Mushrooms, on the other hand, are immobile and do not create their food using photosynthesis like plants do. Instead, they feed off other living things and reproduce through spores. This key difference in their method of reproduction, along with the absence of chloroplasts and the presence of cell walls, is why fungi have their own kingdom, separate from the plant and animal kingdoms.
While there are some similarities between mushrooms and plants, such as a shared inability to move to new locations and a cellular-level reaction to sunlight, mushrooms are clearly distinct and belong firmly in the Fungi kingdom.
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Fungi are multicellular aerobic heterotrophic eukaryotes
Mushrooms are not part of the Animalia kingdom. They are classified under the Fungi kingdom, which is distinct from the kingdoms of plants and animals. Fungi have historically been considered members of the plant kingdom due to similarities in lifestyle and morphology. However, they are now recognised as a separate kingdom, having diverged from the lineage that led to animals around one billion years ago.
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Fungi reproduce through spores, unlike animals
Mushrooms are not part of the animal kingdom. They are classified under the kingdom Fungi, which is distinct from both plants and animals. The kingdom Fungi is divided into one subkingdom, seven phyla, and ten subphyla.
Fungi reproduce through spores, which are units of sexual or asexual reproduction. Asexual reproduction is the simpler method, where a single fungus gives rise to a genetic duplicate of itself without input from another individual. This can occur through fragmentation, budding, or the production of spores. In budding, a bulge forms on the side of the cell, and the nucleus divides mitotically. The bud then detaches from the parent cell and becomes an individual cell itself.
In sexual reproduction, two nuclei fuse to form a zygote, which develops into a new organism. Fungi can produce spores during both sexual and asexual reproduction. These spores are usually haploid and grow into mature haploid individuals through mitotic division of cells. The spores are dispersed from the parent organism by floating on the wind or hitching a ride on an animal. Fungi possess specialized mechanical and physiological mechanisms to ensure the exit of spores and their travel through the air over long distances. For instance, the giant puffball mushroom bursts open and releases trillions of spores, increasing the likelihood of landing in a conducive environment.
Some fungi attract insects with bright colours and putrid odours to facilitate the dispersal of spores. Other mechanisms for spore release include external mechanical forces, such as the forcible discharge of spores through explosive ejection.
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Fungi are more closely related to animals than plants
Mushrooms are a type of fungus. Fungi form their own kingdom, separate from the animal and plant kingdoms. Fungi and animals are more closely related to each other than they are to plants. This is because the last common ancestor of plants, fungi, and animals lived earlier than the last common ancestor of fungi and animals.
For much of scientific history, fungi were considered part of the plant kingdom. This is because fungi and plants share certain similarities, such as being mainly immobile and having similar growth habitats and general morphology. However, this historical classification is inaccurate.
Fungi and animals form a clade called opisthokonta, which is named after a single, posterior flagellum present in their last common ancestor. This posterior flagellum propels primitive fungal spores and animal sperm. In addition, in 1998, scientists discovered that fungi split from animals around 1.538 billion years ago, whereas plants split from animals around 1.547 billion years ago. This means that fungi are more closely related to animals than to plants.
Computational phylogenetics comparing eukaryotes also revealed that fungi are more closely related to us than to plants. These computational and molecular approaches are convincing because they provide robust evolutionary histories that indicate organismal relationships and estimate when they diverged from common ancestors.
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Fungi are not animals because they lack chloroplasts and have cell walls
Mushrooms are a type of fungus, and fungi are not classified as animals. Fungi are part of a separate kingdom from plants and animals, with an estimated 2.2 million to 3.8 million species, of which only about 148,000 have been described so far.
Fungi have rigid cell walls that support them, and they are the only organisms that have cell walls made of a chitin-glucan complex. The cell walls of plants and oomycetes contain cellulose and lack chitin, while slime molds lack a cell wall altogether. This unique feature of fungi further distinguishes them from other kingdoms and supports their classification as a separate kingdom.
Additionally, phylogenetic studies have helped reshape the classification within the fungi kingdom. It is divided into one subkingdom, seven phyla, and ten subphyla, with the two most species-rich phyla being Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, which include mushrooms, molds, and plant pathogenic fungi.
While early taxonomists considered fungi to be members of the plant kingdom due to similarities in lifestyle and morphology, modern molecular evidence demonstrates that fungi are more closely related to animals than plants. This has led to the creation of three possible major domains of life: Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya, with fungi granted their own kingdom within Eukarya.
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Frequently asked questions
No, mushrooms are part of the Fungi kingdom, which is separate from the kingdoms of plants and animals. Fungi are multicellular aerobic heterotrophic eukaryotes with chitin in their cell walls, and they feed off other living things and reproduce through spores.
Mushrooms are not classified as animals because they have very different evolutionary histories and DNA. While mushrooms and animals are both multi-celled, fungi are the most primitive of the eukaryotes, and they lack chloroplasts, have cell walls, and have different methods of digestion.
Mushrooms are classified by looking at the sequences of their genes and inferring the structure of the "family tree" that connects them to other organisms. This process is called taxonomy, and it has been influenced by the pioneering 18th and 19th-century works of Carl Linnaeus, Christiaan Hendrik Persoon, and Elias Magnus Fries.
