| Habitat |
Aquatic habitats, decaying wood in moist and damp places, obligate parasites on plants. |
Saprophytic, decomposers, parasitic, coprophilous (growing on dung). |
Soil, logs, tree stumps, living plant bodies as parasites (rusts, smuts). |
Saprophytes, parasites, decomposers of litter, help in mineral cycling. |
| Mycelium |
Aseptate and coenocytic. |
Branched and septate. |
Branched and septate. |
Septate and branched. |
| Asexual Reproduction |
Zoospores (motile) or aplanospores (non-motile) endogenously in sporangium. |
Conidia produced exogenously on conidiophores. |
Asexual spores generally not found; vegetative reproduction by fragmentation. |
Conidia. |
| Sexual Reproduction |
Zygospore formed by fusion of two gametes (isogamous, anisogamous, or oogamous). |
Ascospores produced endogenously in asci, arranged in ascocarps. |
Plasmogamy by fusion of somatic cells, forming dikaryotic cells; karyogamy and meiosis in basidium, producing basidiospores exogenously. |
No sexual reproduction known. |
| Common Examples |
Mucor, Rhizopus, Albugo. |
Penicillium, yeast (Saccharomyces), Aspergillus, Claviceps, Neurospora, morels, truffles. |
Agaricus (mushroom), Ustilago (smut), Puccinia (rust fungus). |
Alternaria, Colletotrichum, Trichoderma. |
