Question

Differentiate between algae and fungi.

Answer 1

Hint: Algae and fungi both are categorized under Protista and Fungi kingdom. Both algae and fungi are eukaryotic organisms. The Protista kingdom consists of protozoan and molds along with algae. The main function of algae is production in the ecosystem and also in the production of oxygen gas. Fungi create chains of cells known as fungal hyphae. Both algae and fungi are responsible for the formation of the thallus. The algae are autotrophs.

Complete answer:
Algae are the plant-like mostly unicellular organisms, diverse and grow everywhere on earth. They are very important in ecosystems as they help in the production of aquatic food chains. In this process, it releases oxygen gas to the atmosphere. It produces about 70% of oxygen.
Fungi are classified under the kingdom fungi. They are either unicellular or multicellular eukaryotic organisms. Fungi are mainly motionless and grow as fungal hyphae. They are cylindrical, thread-like chains of cells. Each cell is divided from the others in the chain.

Character	Algae	Fungi
Kingdom	Algae belong to the kingdom Protista.	Fungi belong to the kingdom Fungi.
Habitat	They are mostly aquatic and found in both fresh and marine water.	They are terrestrial and mostly found on the dead matter with proper warmth and moisture.
Prokaryotic/ Eukaryotic	Only Cyanobacteria are prokaryotic algae. Other algae are eukaryotes.	All fungi are eukaryotes.
Photosynthetic Pigments	It possesses chlorophyll for photosynthesis.	It does not possess any photosynthetic pigment.
Nutrition	Being an autotroph, algae possess chlorophyll and other photosynthetic pigments.	Fungi are heterotrophs, they digest external food by secreting enzymes.
Darkness	They cannot live in the dark.	They can live in the dark.
Cell Wall	The cell wall is composed of cellulose.	The cell wall is composed of chitin.
Food Storage	It stores food in the form of starch.	It stores food in the form of glycogen and oil globules.
Body	Algal body is filamentous or parenchymatous.	The fungal body is filamentous or pasedo-parenchymatous.
Nucleated	It consists of uninucleated cells.	It consists of multinucleated cells.

Note: Algae and fungi are two groups of organisms. Algae belong to the kingdom Protista whereas; fungi belong to the kingdom Fungi. Algae are autotrophs, and Fungi are heterotrophs. Algae contain photosynthetic pigments. Fungi are capable of digesting non-living, organic material, and also absorb simple nutrients by the fungal hyphae.