I am confused by my textbook, and I was wondering what specific charictaristics mold has that make it considered a member of the fungi kingdom.Why is mold (not slime mold) considered a member of the fungi kingdom?
The ';classical'; features of mold that make it a fungus are: 1) eukaryotic cells (bacteria and archaea are prokaryotes); 2) cell walls containing both chitin and cellulose (plant cell walls do not have chitin); and 3) a chemoheterotrophic metabolism - they get their energy and raw materials from breaking down organic nutrients, rather than photosynthesis. Nowadays a lot of taxonomic groups have been ';redefined'; by nucleic acid sequence analysis, which shows the actual genetic and evolutionary similarity of molds to other fungi, such as yeasts and mushrooms.
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