Question

In which group are mushrooms, toadstools, puffballs and bracket fungi placed?
A)Sporomycetes
B)Zygomycetes
C)Ascomycetes
D)Basidiomycetes

Answer 1

Hint: Fungi are a kingdom of multicellular eukaryotic organisms. They are heterotrophs which cannot prepare their own food. Fungi reproduce both sexually and asexually. The fungi are divided into four groups.

Complete answer:
To solve this question, we must know about divisions of the kingdom Fungi.

Fungi are classified in four divisions based on the type of sexual reproduction.
Sporomycetes are endoparasites belonging to the Crustacea or algae family.

Zygomycetes- These are saprophytic fungi which live on dead organisms. They are called conjugation fungi. Example Rhizopus, Mucor. Rhizopus is commonly known as black bread mould.

Ascomycetes- These organisms are saprophytic decomposers and are parasitic. The Aspergillus, Claviceps and Neurospora belong to ascomycetes.

Basidiomycetes- These categories of organisms grow in soil and logs and trees in living plant bodies. They have branched septate mycelium. They do not reproduce sexually. It reproduces by plasmogamy in which the fusion of two somatic cells of different strains takes place. Example puffballs, mushrooms and bracket fungi.

Hence, the correct answer is option (D)

Note: Basidiomycetes reproduces by producing sexual spores called the basidiospores which are four in number on a club-shaped structure called basidium. They are composed of hyphae. This order is commonly called mushroom. The species of basidiomycetes are mainly edible and are also an important source of useful material like pigments, enzymes etc. They are often known as club fungi.