Simple Plants Without Chlorophyll — Pungi 183 



Common rusts include the cedar-apple rust which parasitizes cedars 

 and spends the rest of the year on apple trees or hawthorns; the white 

 pine blister rust in which the fungus alternates between the white pine 

 tree and wild gooseberries and currants. Other rusts cause diseases of 

 corn, oats, rye, pears, cherries, plums, peaches, various cone-bearing 

 trees, many types of garden vegetables, cultivated flowers, and many 

 other types of economically important plants. 



QUESTIONS AND TOPICS 



1. Review the general characteristics of the thallophytes (Subkingdom Thallo- 

 phyta). 



2. List the distinguishing characteristics by means of which the following phyla 

 may be differentiated: Schizomycophyta, Myxomycophyta, and Eumycophyta. 



3. Why are slime molds considered as plants? What animal characteristics do 

 they possess? 



4. Describe the life cycle of a typical slime mold. 



5. List all the ways you can in which fungi affect man in one way or another. 



6. Give reasons why you consider fungi to be higher or lower types of plants 

 than algae. 



7. List and describe each of the asexual methods of reproduction found in fungi. 



8. Describe the process of conjugation found in certain fungi. In what ways 

 does this process resemble sexual reproduction? In which fungi do you find 

 conjugation? 



9. Define and give the derivation of each new term encountered in this chapter. 



10. Describe the ways in which sunlight and dry air may be detrimental to fungi. 



11. Explain how fungi secure their nourishment and oxygen. 



12. Diagram the life cycle of Rhizopus nigricans. Why are the gametes of this 

 algalike fungus not considered to be true eggs and sperms? 



13. Explain how bread molds on the inside of the loaf. What is the source of 

 the mold? 



14. Why are bacteria considered to be plants? Why are they classed as fungi? 



15. List all the ways in which bacteria may be ( 1 ) beneficial and (2) harmful. 



16. Contrast and give examples of heterotrophic and autotrophic nutrition. 



17. List the distinguishing characteristics of the following classes of the true 

 fungi: Phycomycetes, Ascomycetes, and Basidiomycetes, including examples 

 of each class. 



18. Diagram a typical life cycle of each class of true fungi (Eumycophyta) . 



19. Why are yeasts classed as Ascomycetes? In what ways do yeasts differ 

 from other Ascomycetes? 



20. Why are Penicillium and Aspergillus classed as Ascomycetes? Of what 

 economic importance are these two fungi? 



21. Contrast the structure of asci and basidia. 



22. Describe the life cycle of the black stem rust of wheat, including the various 

 hosts, stages, types of spores, damages, etc. 



23. Why are the sporophores of many fungi borne upright? 



