Question

Deuteromycetes are called as ‘imperfect fungi’ as
A) They have no cell wall
B) They have no mycelium
C) They have no sexual reproduction
D) They have no asexual reproduction

Answer 1

Hint: The perfect stage of reproduction is not known for Imperfect fungi.

Complete Answer:
A class of fungi is termed imperfect fungi. When we hear this, we begin to wonder what could be so wrong with them? Well, as we know, reproduction is one of the defining and most important features of a living organism. In case of imperfect fungi, the stages of sexual reproduction are either not known or studied or they haven’t been discovered. Therefore, the life cycle of such fungal species is incompletely studied. We only know about the asexual stage of reproduction, also called the imperfect stage for them.

Imperfect fungi belong to the class Deuteromycetes. Let’s see the features of imperfect fungi, written as follows:
1) They show heterotrophic mode of nutrition. Either they are saprophytic or parasitic on plant and animal species.
2) Their thalloid body is made up of haploid mycelium.
3) The mycelium is septate and shows profuse branching.
4) They reproduce asexually through the formation of exogenous spores.
5) Those species for whom sexual stages become known, they are transferred to the taxonomic position under the classes Ascomycetes and Basidiomycetes.
6) Examples of imperfect fungi include Alternaria, Microsporum, etc.

Therefore, the correct answer is option C.

Note: Aspergillus or Eurotium is an imperfect fungus for whom sexual stage has been discovered. The sexual stage is called Eurotium while the asexual stage or conidial stage is called Aspergillus. These two species were earlier considered to be different species.