Laura Smith
Mushrooms are neither plants nor animals. They are a type of fungus, constituting their own kingdom. They are more closely related to humans than they are to plants. Fungi include the familiar mushroom-forming species, as well as yeasts, moulds, smuts, and rusts. Mushrooms are the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or another food source. They lack chlorophyll and have to take nutrients from other materials.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Definition | Mushrooms are the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting bodies of fungi |
| Kingdom | Fungi |
| Cellular components | Fungi have cell walls made rigid with chitin, rather than cellulose (found in plants) |
| DNA | Fungi cells usually have half of a full set of DNA, unlike plants and animals |
| Energy source | Lacks chlorophyll, gets energy and nutrients by digesting other things |
| Relatedness to plants | Fungi are more closely related to humans than to plants |
| Relatedness to animals | Fungi are more closely related to humans than to plants, but some molecular evidence suggests they are more closely related to animals than plants |
| Edibility | May be edible, poisonous, or unpalatable |
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What You'll Learn
Mushrooms are fungi, not plants
While mushrooms may look similar to plants, they do not have chlorophyll and cannot photosynthesise. Instead, they get their energy and nutrients by digesting other things in their environment, like animals do. Mushrooms also lack chloroplasts and have cell walls made of chitin, not cellulose.
Fungi also reproduce differently from plants. Instead of seeds, mushrooms produce spores, which are almost as fine as smoke. These spores help the fungus spread and, when they land in a suitable place, they germinate and develop into a new organism.
The differences between fungi and plants are important because how we classify organisms affects how we understand, support, and engage with them. For example, some fungi are used by horticulturalists to encourage plants to grow, while others create antibiotics and other drugs.
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Fungi are more closely related to humans than plants
Mushrooms are the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting bodies of fungi. Fungi are neither plants nor animals; they constitute their own kingdom. Fungi include the familiar mushroom-forming species, as well as yeasts, moulds, smuts, and rusts. Fungi have their own unique characteristics that distinguish them from plants and animals. For example, they lack chlorophyll and have to take their nutrients from other materials. They also have cell walls made rigid with chitin, rather than cellulose, as in plants.
While fungi have historically been grouped with plants, recent evidence demonstrates that they are more closely related to animals than plants. In fact, humans share a more recent common ancestor with all fungi than we do with plants. This means that we are more closely related to a mushroom than to a tulip, for example. This classification is based on computational and molecular approaches that provide robust evolutionary histories and indicate organismal relationships.
The distinction between fungi and plants is important because how we classify organisms affects how we understand, support, and engage with them. For example, the pairing of fungi with plants has led to a botanical history of fungi that provides an interesting perspective on our scientific biases and how we classify organisms. Additionally, the misclassification of organisms can impact our collective knowledge and understanding of the nature of individual organisms and their relationships to other similar organisms.
Furthermore, the unique characteristics of fungi have led to their use in various applications, such as encouraging plant growth, producing antibiotics and other drugs, and creating blue cheese. However, some fungi can also be harmful, producing poisons that can kill people who eat them. Overall, the classification of fungi as a separate kingdom from plants highlights their distinct characteristics and evolutionary history, and it is important to continue studying and understanding their unique properties and roles in various ecosystems.
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Fungi don't photosynthesise
Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of some types of fungus. Fungi are a separate branch of life from plants and animals, constituting their own kingdom. Fungi, including mushrooms, do not photosynthesise—they lack chlorophyll and chloroplasts and get their energy and nutrients from digesting other things, like animals do.
Fungi have cell walls made rigid with chitin, rather than cellulose, as in plants. Their cells usually have half of a full set of DNA, whereas in plants and animals, each cell has a full set and only eggs and sperm have half sets. Fungi also include yeast, which is present in many kinds of bread and beer. They also give blue cheese its colour.
Fungi have been historically grouped with plants, with an impact that is still felt today. The French entomologist René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur described fungi pathogenic to insects as a plant root. The Mycological Society of America was established while fungi were still considered plants, and the New York Botanical Garden still maintains one of the world's largest collections of fungi. However, modern molecular evidence demonstrates that fungi are more closely related to animals than plants.
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Mushrooms are the fruiting body of fungi
Mushrooms are similar to plants in appearance, but they lack chlorophyll and have to take their nutrients from other materials. They get their energy and nutrients from digesting other things, like animals do. Fungi have cell walls made rigid with chitin, rather than cellulose, as in plants. Their cells usually have half of a full set of DNA, whereas in plants and animals, each cell has a full set, and only eggs and sperm have half sets.
Before developing the mushroom structure, the fungus lives as a mycelium, a mat-like or net-like network of filaments infusing a patch of soil or wood. When conditions are right, the mycelium develops a fruiting structure, a mushroom, which emerges from the ground or the tree. Mushrooms produce spores, which are like mushroom versions of seeds. The gills under the cap of the mushroom produce microscopic spores, which help the fungus spread across the ground or its occupant surface. When spores land in a suitable place, they germinate, developing the fine filaments that eventually become a new mycelium.
The delineation between edible and poisonous fungi is not clear-cut, so a "mushroom" may be edible, poisonous, or unpalatable. The word "toadstool" generally refers to a poisonous mushroom.
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Fungi have rigid cell walls made of chitin
Mushrooms are a type of fungus. They are neither plants nor animals; they constitute their own kingdom: the Fungi. Fungi include the familiar mushroom-forming species, as well as yeasts, moulds, smuts, and rusts. Fungi are more closely related to humans than they are to plants.
Fungi have cell walls made rigid with chitin, a homopolymer of β-1,4-linked N-acetylglucosamine units, and β-1,3-glucan. The cell wall is a structure that encases the fungal cell, protecting it against osmotic pressure and maintaining its shape. The cell wall is composed of polysaccharides (80-90%), glycoproteins (protein-polysaccharide complex), lipids, and other components in smaller quantities. Insoluble polysaccharides such as cellulose, chitin, and α- and β-glucans make up the rigid matrix responsible for cell wall resistance.
The cell wall consists of several rigid layers, containing fibrils that are arranged variably. These fibrils maintain a characteristic cellular morphology, allowing interactions between fungi and the environment, other cells, or the host. The cell wall is now seen as a dynamic structure that is continuously changing as a result of the modification of culture conditions and environmental stresses.
Disruption of the cell wall structure has a large impact on fungal cell survival, causing the rupture of the plasma membrane and cell lysis. The inner wall core comprises a hydrophobic and rigid scaffold of chitin and (1-3)α-D-glucan that is covered by a hydrated and soft matrix of interconnected (1-3)α-D-glucan, (1-3)β-D-glucan, and (1-6)β-D-glucan. The outer wall region is formed by a dynamic layer of glycoproteins and a minor fraction of (1-3)α-D-glucan.
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Frequently asked questions
No, mushrooms are not plants. Mushrooms are a type of fungus and constitute their own kingdom. Fungi are more closely related to humans than they are to plants.
Mushrooms grow similarly to plants, but they lack chlorophyll and have to take nutrients from other materials. Fungi don't have chloroplasts that photosynthesize. They have cell walls made rigid with chitin, rather than cellulose as in plants.
Fungi have historically been considered plants because they grow similarly to plants. They were also grouped with plants because of a centuries-old division attributed to Carl Linnaeus: "Plants grow and live; Animals grow, live and feel."
