What are the fungi? Mushrooms, molds, yeasts, athlete's foot diseases, rusts, and smuts
             All are filamentous or unicellular.
             Individual filaments are termed hyphae.
             A mass of hyphae is the mycelium (the feeding stage)
             Walls of the filaments are of cellulose with chitin
             Cells are eucaryotic; that is, they contain nuclei, mitochondria, other organelles
             Nutritionally, all fungi are heterotrophic, mostly aerobic
             Saprophytic--live off dead organic matter
             Parasitic--obtain nutrients by penetrating tiny branches (haustoria) into a host
             Sexual--gametangia produce sperms and eggs
             Decomposers of organic materials--important recyclers of matter
             The representative genus I shall use is Saprolegnia (can be collected from freshwater habitats by using apple baits in wire cage)
             A true mycelium, of tubular threads
             The hyphae have 2N nuclei (numerous)
             Mycelium grows and sooner or later reproduces
             Zoospores are released, attach to a food particle, germinate to become hyphae, then mycelium
             The same mycelium that produced the sporangia now forms the sex organs
             Antheridia--------> sperms (gametes)
             Gamete fusion occurs in the oogonium
             Zygotes are released, germinate, attach to a food mass.
             Mycelium feeds, grows, eventually reproduces
             See page 532 in your text for the life cycle.
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