Question

How do hyphae spread from one area to another?

Answer 1

Hint: Hyphae are the thread-like structures found in fungus and they are made of a strong substance called ‘chitin’. Funguses are usually saprotrophs meaning they depend on dead and decaying matter for nutrition.

Complete answer:
• Funguses have a saprotrophic mode of nutrition meaning they rely on dead and decaying matter for their nutrition. They convert the dead and decaying matter into easily digestible form and absorb it.
• They reproduce asexually by budding which involves either buds (yeast, unicellular fungi) or spores (in higher fungi).
• Hyphae are the thread-like meshy, tubular structures produced by fungi. Except the unicellular fungus yeast, higher fungi divide or reproduce asexually by spore formation.
• At the tip of the spore the cells start dividing and give rise to a group of cells called hyphae which later forms mycelium.
• As hyphae is formed, simultaneously at the tip of the hypha new cells starts diving in response to available nutrition and elongates further.
• This process and division continues and finally hypha gives rise to mycelium and spreads further to other areas.

Note: The hyphae are made up of cells whose cell membrane is made of chitin (a very strong substance) due to which the cell doesn’t break as it elongates further. When the cell starts dividing, the cell wall breaks open to aid in elongation and a new cell wall is again formed to accommodate the new cells. This is how hypha helps fungus to move from one area to another.