Reproduction of Fungi
Rhizopus Fungi (with fake roots)can reproduce asexually and sexually.
- Asexual, Haploid Spores
- Certain hyphae will grow upwards, produce sporangium at their tips. A large number of spores are then formed in the sporangium.
- The sporangium matures and bursts, releasing spores into the air. Spores that lands on nutritious and moist environment will germinate (cause seed to start growing) and grow hyphae.
- Asexual, Budding
- First, a bud develops on the side of the parent cell (mature cell). The parent cell then duplicates its genetic material via mitosis, and one copy of the nucleus migrates into the growing bud.
- As the bud enlarges, a new cell wall forms and pinch it off from the parent. Eventually, the bud detaches to become a genetically identical, independent daughter cell.
- Sexual, Hyphae Fusing
- First, hyphae of 2 fungi with different mating types fuse together. The nuclei from both parents fuse and develop a diploid nucleus called zygospores. The combined genetic material undergoes meiosis to produce genetically unique haploid spores.
- Zygospores then germinate to form sporangium, where haploid spores inside undergoes mitosis to form more copies. Spores are then released into the environment, where they will germinate into new, genetically diverse fungal hyphae.