Kingdom Fungi

Syllabus tag: KCSE | Biology | Form 1 | Topic 2 Classification I

Lesson objectives

By the end of this topic, you should be able to:

• State the general characteristics of Kingdom Fungi.
• Describe the structure of a named mould and of yeast.
• Explain saprophytic and parasitic nutrition in fungi.
• State the economic importance of fungi.

Summary

Fungi are eukaryotic organisms that have cell walls made of chitin and no chlorophyll, so they cannot photosynthesise. They feed by extracellular digestion — releasing enzymes onto food and absorbing the products. Most consist of thread-like hyphae forming a mycelium, and they reproduce by spores. They matter enormously as decomposers, in baking and brewing, and as the source of penicillin.