Title: Fungi
Course: Question Banks

Q: Fungal cell walls contain ________.
- cellulose (Incorrect. Plant cell walls have cellulose.)
- peptidoglycans (Incorrect. Bacterial cell walls have peptidoglycans.)
- chitin (Correct. Like insects, fungi use chitin for structural strength in their cell walls.)
A: chitin

Q: The plasma membrane of fungal cells contains ________.
- chitin (Incorrect. Chitin is present in fungal cell walls, not plasma membranes.)
- cholesterol (Incorrect. Cholesterol is found in the plasma membranes of animal cells.)
- ergosterol (Correct. Ergosterol stabilizes the plasma membrane of fungi.)
A: ergosterol

Q: Pigments in fungi are used to ________.
- warn predators about poisons (Incorrect. This is a mechanism generally used by animals, but not fungi.)
- attract pollinators (Incorrect. Plants attract pollinators with bright colors, but fungi do not reproduce in this fashion.)
- protect against ultraviolet radiation (Correct. Pigments in fungi are associated with the cell wall and help protect the cells from UV damage.)
A: protect against ultraviolet radiation

Q: Most members of kingdom Fungi live on ________.
- ocean surfaces (Incorrect. There are a few saltwater fungi but not many.)
- host organisms (Incorrect. While there are parasitic fungi, most species are not reliant on a host.)
- forest floors (Correct. Most fungal species live on the forest floor, where damp and dark environments are rich in decaying debris.)
A: forest floors

Q: Where do fungi best flourish?
- dry sandy soils (Incorrect. Only a few types of fungi live in dry and sandy soils.)
- coral reefs (Incorrect. There are only a few fungal species that are coral reef parasites.)
- cool humid locations (Correct. Humid and cool environments allow fungi to thrive.)
A: cool humid locations

Q: The ________ are primarily aquatic fungi.
- fly agaric (Incorrect. The fly agaric fungi live in temperate and boreal regions of North America.)
- oyster mushrooms (Incorrect. Oyster mushrooms live in temperate and subtropical forests throughout the world.)
- chytrids (Correct. Chytrids are mostly aquatic species.)
A: chytrids

Q: Fungi are mostly ________.
- parasitic (Incorrect. There are parasitic fungi but the majority of fungal species are not parasitic.)
- photosynthetic (Incorrect. No fungal species is photosynthetic.)
- saprophytic (Correct. Most fungi derive nutrients from decaying organic matter.)
A: saprophytic

Q: Unicellular fungi are more commonly known as ________.
- mycelium (Incorrect. They mycelium is a mass of hyphae, slender thread-like structures that make up the vegetable stage of multicelled fungi.)
- spores (Incorrect. A fungal spore is a unit of reproduction that is used for dispersal and survival.)
- yeasts (Correct. Unicellular fungi are generally referred to as yeasts.)
A: yeasts

Q: Most fungi are ________.
- facultative anaerobes (Incorrect. Yeasts are generally facultative anaerobes but not fungi in general.)
- obligate anaerobes (Incorrect. Some fungi are obligate anaerobes, but not most.)
- obligate aerobes (Correct. The majority of fungi require oxygen to survive.)
A: obligate aerobes

Q: ________ fungi reproduce both sexually and asexually.
- Imperfect (Incorrect. Imperfect fungi reproduce only asexually using mitosis.)
- Heterothallic (Incorrect. Heterothallic fungi only reproduce sexually.)
- Perfect (Correct. Perfect fungi reproduce both asexually and sexually.)
A: Perfect

Q: The process of ________ is the first step in fungal sexual reproduction, when two haploid cells fuse.
- karyogamy (Incorrect. Karyogamy is the second step, when haploid nuclei fuse into a single diploid zygote nucleus.)
- meiosis (Incorrect. Meiosis, which produces the gametes of different mating types, is actually the last step of fungal sexual reproduction.)
- plasmogamy (Correct. Plasmogamy is the first step in fungal sexual reproduction.)
A: plasmogamy

Q: The most common form of asexual reproduction in fungi ________.
- is fragmentation (Incorrect. Some fungi do reproduce by fragmentation of the hyphae into new colonies, but this is not the most common mechanism.)
- requires budding (Incorrect. Budding, a form of cytokinesis, is used by somatic cells in yeasts, but is not the most common mechanism.)
- involves producing spores (Correct. The most common mode of asexual reproduction in fungi is through the formation of asexual spores.)
A: involves producing spores

Q: The majority of the chytrids are ________.
- multicellular (Incorrect. While there are some multicellular chytrids, the majority of this phylum are not.)
- polyclonal (Incorrect. Most chytrids are not polyclonal.)
- unicellular (Correct. Chytrids are generally unicellular, though there are some multicellular species.)
A: unicellular

Q: Chytrids are structurally and ecologically most similar to ________.
- bacteria (Incorrect. Chytrids do not share many features with bacteria.)
- plants (Incorrect. Chytrids do not share many features with plants.)
- protists (Correct. Chytrids have a similar ecological habitat and cell structure to protists.)
A: protists

Q: Most zygomycetes are ________.
- parasites (Incorrect. There are parasitic zygomycetes but most of this group of fungi are not parasitic.)
- carnivores (Incorrect. Zygomycetes do not consume prey organisms.)
- saprobes (Correct. Most zygomycetes are saprobic.)
A: saprobes

Q: The ________ Rhizopus stolonifer is the familiar bread mold.
- chytrid (Incorrect. Bread mold is not a chytrid.)
- ascomycete (Incorrect. Bread mold is not an ascomycete.)
- zygomycete (Correct. This is the fungal species that propagates on the surfaces of bread, fruits, and vegetables.)
A: zygomycete

Q: The majority of known fungi belong to the phylum ________.
- Zygomycota (Incorrect. This a relatively small phylum of fungi.)
- Chytridiomycota (Incorrect. These are the simplest of true fungi, but not the majority of fungi.)
- Ascomycota (Correct. The majority of known fungi are sac fungi.)
A: Ascomycota

Q: The ascomycetes are so called due to ________.
- their filamentous shape (Incorrect. Ascomycetes do have a filamentous shape but this is not what names the group.)
- perforated septa allowing cytoplasmic streaming (Incorrect. Some ascomycetes do have perforated septa in their hyphae but this does not define this phylum.)
- a sac-like structure containing haploid spores (Correct. An ascus full of haploid ascospores characterizes the sac fungi.)
A: a sac-like structure containing haploid spores

Q: Sac fungi use ________ for asexual reproduction.
- asci (Incorrect. Asci are used for sexual reproduction in sac fungi.)
- sporangiospores (Incorrect. Sporangiospores are used by conjugated fungi for asexual reproduction.)
- conidia (Correct. Conidia are used for asexual reproduction in sac fungi.)
A: conidia

Q: The majority of ________ are basidiomycetes.
- symbiotic fungi (Incorrect. The glomeromycetes form symbiotic relationship with tree roots.)
- imperfect fungi (Incorrect. The deuteromycetes are the imperfect fungi.)
- edible fungi (Correct. Most edible fungi are club fungi.)
A: edible fungi

Q: A mushroom is actually a fruiting body known as a ________.
- basidium (Incorrect. This is one of the reproductive organs contained within a mushroom.)
- fairy ring (Incorrect. A fairy ring is composed of several fruiting bodies on the outer edge of some basidiomycetes that grow large mycelium underground.)
- basidiocarp (Correct. A mushroom is fruiting body of a secondary mycelium that protrudes above ground.)
A: basidiocarp

Q: Smuts and rusts are ________.
- shelf fungi (Incorrect. Shelf fungi are also basidiomycetes but they are different from smuts and rusts.)
- lichen components (Incorrect. Smuts and rusts are not the fungal portion of a lichen.)
- plant pathogens (Correct. These are club fungi that are important plant pathogens.)
A: plant pathogens

Q: The ________ live in close association with tree roots.
- basidiomycetes (Incorrect. Most edible fungi are club fungi.)
- deuteromycetes (Incorrect. These are the imperfect fungi that live in a variety of habitats.)
- glomeromycetes (Correct. These fungi form symbiotic relationships with tree roots.)
A: glomeromycetes

Q: The glomeromycetes supply ________ to their symbiotic hosts.
- carbohydrates (Incorrect. The glomeromycetes receive carbohydrates from their plant hosts.)
- antibacterials (Incorrect. The glomeromycetes are not known for producing antibacterial compounds.)
- essential minerals (Correct. The glomeromycetes provide minerals from the soil to their hosts’ roots.)
A: essential minerals

Q: The ________ are the imperfect fungi.
- basidiomycetes (Incorrect. These are the often edible club fungi.)
- glomeromycetes (Incorrect. These fungi form symbiotic relationships with tree roots.)
- deuteromycetes (Correct. These are the imperfect fungi that live in a variety of habitats.)
A: deuteromycetes

Q: The visible mycelia of deuteromycetes are commonly known as ________.
- rhizoids (Incorrect. Rhizoids are structures that anchor some plants to the ground.)
- smuts (Incorrect. These are club fungi that are plant parasites.)
- molds (Correct. The visible mycelia of the imperfect fungi often have a fuzzy appearance: we call these molds.)
A: molds

Q: Fungi produce ________ to aid in digesting nutrients.
- ribozymes (Incorrect. Ribozymes are catalytic RNA molecules, which are not common in general.)
- acids (Incorrect. Fungi do not produce acids to aid in digestion.)
- exoenzymes (Correct. Exoenzymes are so called because they are utilized outside the fungal cell to digest nutrients.)
A: exoenzymes

Q: Fungal saprobic action is responsible for releasing ________ into the environment.
- carbon and oxygen (Incorrect. Carbon and oxygen are abundant in most environments and do not need special action to be used.)
- hydrogen and nitrogen (Incorrect. Hydrogen is readily available in the environment.)
- nitrogen and phosphorus (Correct. These elements in particular are limited in most environments and need to be made available to other living organisms.)
A: nitrogen and phosphorus

Q: Many advances in modern genetics were made possible using the red bread mold ________.
- Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Incorrect. S. cerevisiae is an important model organism but not particularly for modern genetics.)
- Psilocybe semilanceata (Incorrect. P. semilanceata produces psilocybin, a hallucinogenic.)
- Neurospora crassa (Correct. N. crassa was particularly useful for modern genetics.)
A: Neurospora crassa

Q: Without fungal partnerships, ________ of trees and grasses might not survive.
- 50–60 percent (Incorrect. This is not the correct percentage of plants that are able to survive with fungal help.)
- 10–20 percent (Incorrect. This is not the correct percentage of plants that are able to survive with fungal help.)
- 80–90 percent (Correct. Mycorrhizal relationships between fungi and plant roots help 80–90 percent of trees and grasses to survive.)
A: 80–90 percent

Q: Arbuscular mycorrhiza involve a ________ fungal partner.
- Ascomycota (Incorrect. Ascomycota fungi are involved in ectomycorrhizae partnerships.)
- Zygomycota (Incorrect. Zygomycota fungi are involved in ectomycorrhizae partnerships.)
- Glomeromycota (Correct. Glomeromycota fungi form endomycorrhizae partnerships.)
A: Glomeromycota

Q: ________ are partnerships between a fungus and a photosynthetic organism, rather than being a single organism.
- Fungal mycelium (Incorrect. Mycelium are not partnerships of any type.)
- Arbuscular mycorrhiza (Incorrect. Arbuscular mycorrhiza are not mistaken for individual organisms.)
- Lichens (Correct. Lichens are often mistakenly considered individual organisms but they actually have either an Ascomycota or Zygomycota partner and a photosynthetic organism.)
A: Lichens

Q: Ergotism is caused by a fungal infection of ________.
- grapes (Incorrect. Ergotism is not caused by a grape pathogen.)
- nuts (incorrect. Ergotism is not caused by a fungal infection striking nuts.)
- rye (Correct. Ergotism is caused when animals (including humans) eat cereal crops like rye that have ergot caused by a fungal infection.)
A: rye

Q: Aflatoxins can taint ________, leading to massive recalls due to the toxic nature of these compounds.
- grapes (Incorrect. Grapes are not generally tainted by aflatoxins.)
- zinnias (Incorrect. Zinnias are not generally tainted by aflatoxins.)
- nuts (Correct. Aflatoxins can cause cancer and are released by Aspergillus fungi. Massive recalls are necessary whenever these compounds are detected in nuts.)
A: nuts

Q: People use the controlled infection of ________ to cause noble rot and produce a beverage.
- barley (Incorrect. No drink is obtained from fungal infected barley.)
- rye (Incorrect. Fungal infections do not enhance the desirability of whiskey, which is produced from rye.)
- grapes (Correct. When carefully managed, fungal infections in grapes by Botrytis can result in noble rot, which produces strong and much-prized dessert wines.)
A: grapes

Q: ________ is poisoning of animals by fungal toxin in contaminated foods.
- Mycosis (Incorrect. This is a fungal disease that results from direct damage due to a fungal infection.)
- Mycetismus (Incorrect. This is the ingestion of toxins from poisonous mushrooms.)
- Mycotoxicosis (Correct. Mycotoxins are fungal toxins that can contaminate food items; these toxins cause mycotoxicosis when ingested by animals,including humans.)
A: Mycotoxicosis

Q: White-nose syndrome in bats is caused by a ________.
- dermatophyte (Incorrect. White-nose syndrome is not caused by a dermatophyte.)
- systemic mycosis (Incorrect. White-nose syndrome is not due to a fungal infection of internal organs.)
- cutaneous mycosis (Correct. White-nose syndrome is a superficial skin infection caused by Pseudogymnoascus destructans.)
A: cutaneous mycosis

Q: Valley fever is caused by a fungal infection and generates symptoms similar to ________.
- AIDS (Incorrect. No fungal infections generates symptoms similar to AIDS.)
- influenza (Incorrect. Histoplasmosis is a fungal disease that causes pulmonary infections with symptoms similar to the flu.)
- tuberculosis (Correct. Coccidioidomycosis is caused by a fungus that resides in the southwestern U.S. and causes symptoms that are similar to those of TB.)
A: tuberculosis

Q: The fungus ________ is of primary concern when considering rising cases of antifungal resistance.
- Aspergillus (Incorrect. Aspergillus are not being tracked for growing antifungal resistance.)
- Histoplasma (Incorrect. Histoplasma are not being tracked for growing antifungal resistance.)
- Candida (Correct. Antifungal resistance in Candida is a growing public health concern.)
A: Candida

Q: Candida's resistance to ________ appears to be on the rise.
- flouride (Incorrect. Fluoride is often added to the water supply to reduce the incidence of tooth decay.)
- candidemia (Incorrect. This is the bloodstream infection caused by a fungus with growing antifungal resistance.)
- echinocandins (Correct. Resistance to the echinocandins appears to have nearly doubled in four years of tracking.)
A: echinocandins

Q: One of the most important factors in fighting drug resistance is ________.
- preventing genetic recombinations (Incorrect. Genetic recombinations can contribute to the spread of drug resistance genes but this is not a key factor for mitigating the development of drug resistance.)
- taking probiotics (Incorrect. There is limited evidence that bacteria in the gut can naturally limit fungal growth; therefore this is not an important consideration for fighting drug resistance.)
- appropriate use of antifungals and antibacterials (Correct. Inappropriate use of these agents can result in growing resistance among the organisms meant to be killed.)
A: appropriate use of antifungals and antibacterials

Q: Members of the ________ are used to make breads and fermented beverages.
- Aspergillus (Incorrect. Aspergillus is used to make some fermented beverages, but not bread.)
- Fusarium (Incorrect. Fusarium is used to make a meat substitute.)
- Saccharomyces (Correct. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is baker’s yeast used to make breads and other Saccharomyces species are used for fermenting some alcoholic beverages.)
A: Saccharomyces

Q: Agaricus bisporus is marketed as ________.
- truffles (Incorrect. Truffles are usually members of the Tuber genus.)
- shiitakes (Incorrect. Shiitake mushrooms are Lentinula edodes.)
- button mushrooms (Correct. Agaricus bisporus are sold as both button and portobello mushrooms.)
A: button mushrooms

Q: Most blue cheeses are created by inoculating milk with ________.
- Lentinula edodes (Incorrect. These are a type of edible mushrooms, the shiitakes.)
- Penicillium blue (Incorrect. Blue cheeses do not come from Penicillium blue.)
- Penicillium roqueforti (Correct. These fungi convey a unique flavor and texture to cheeses like Stilton and Roquefort.)
A: Penicillium roqueforti

Q: ________ is an important antibiotic obtained from fungi.
- Cyclosporin-A (Incorrect. This is an important immunosuppressant drug.)
- Psilocybin (Incorrect. This is a hallucinogenic compound produced by some fungi.)
- Penicillin (Correct. Penicillin is a vital antibiotic produced by fungi that remains one of the top 10 money-making fungal compounds used in medicine.)
A: Penicillin

Q: The ________ are important fungally produced antibiotics.
- ergot alkaloids (Incorrect. The ergot alkaloids are used to stop bleeding.)
- micafungins (Incorrect. Micafungin is an antifungal agent that is produced by another fungi.)
- cephalosporins (Correct. Along with penicillin, the cephalosporins are important antibiotics obtained from fungi.)
A: cephalosporins

Q: Yeast may serve as a source of vehicle fuel because they produce ________.
- gasoline (Incorrect. Yeast do not make gasoline.)
- biodiesel (Incorrect. Yeast do not make biodiesel, though some algae species do.)
- alcohol (Correct. Humans have used yeast for thousands of years to make alcohol; in many countries around the world ethanol is used to power cars.)
A: alcohol

Q: ________ is the name for a novel compound discovered in some fungi that may serve as a fuel source.
- Biodiesel (Incorrect. Biodiesels are made by some algae or distilled from corn fermentation.)
- Fun-gas (Incorrect. There is no ‘fun-gas’ compound.)
- Mycodiesel (Correct. Mycodiesel is a novel term for the volatile organic compounds produced by some fungi that have the potential to be converted to fuels.)
A: Mycodiesel