Question

What phylum do club fungi belong to?

Answer 1

Hint: Firstly we need to know about the club fungi. The variation of fungi that is known as the club fungi includes some of the most familiar fungi. Mushrooms, puffballs and shelf fungi are all the examples of club fungi. These are called club fungi because the cells or basidia that carry the sexual spores look like a small club. It is produced during its sexual cycle. It can carry millions of spores on club-shaped basidia that can be found on the surface of its gills.

Complete Answer:
The phylum of the club fungi is Basidiomycota. These fungi are easily knowledgeable under a light microscope. In singular form it is called basidium. These are the swollen terminal cells of a hypha.
The basidia which are the reproductive organs of the club fungi. These are sometimes seeming familiar mushrooms which are commonly seen in fields after rain, in the supermarkets or growing on our lawn.
These mushroom-producing Basidium are sometimes called “Gill Fungi” because of the presence of the structures that look like gills on the underside of the cap. The gills are actually compressed hyphae on which the basidia are born.
The life cycle of Basidiomycota includes alternation of generations. Spores are usually created through sexual reproduction rather than asexual reproduction. The club shaped basidia of club fungi carries spores called as basidiospores. Inside the basidium nuclei of two distinct mating strains combine and give rise to a diploid zygote that then undergoes meiosis. This haploid nucleus roams into basidiospores which sprout and generate monokaryotic hyphae. The mycelium that is created is called a primary mycelium. The mycelia of distinct mating strains get merged and then create a secondary mycelium that carries haploid nuclei of two distinct mating strains. That is the dikaryotic phase of the basidiomycetes life cycle. It is the dominant stage. In the end, the secondary mycelium gives rise to a basidiocarp which is a fruiting body that sticks out from the ground. This is what we called a mushroom. The basidiocarp carries the growing basidia on the gills under its cap.

Note:
Club fungi are considered as the highly evolved fungi. The club fungi are a group with about 16,000 known species. The phylum Basidiomycota contains several subgroups whose relationships are not entirely clear to the scientists.
They are important to the forest ecosystem. Because the club fungi are the major decomposers of plant litter as they have the machinery inside their bodies to degrade lignin found in the forest.