Question

1. How would you support the assertion: fungi are more like animals than plants? Suggest 3 facts (or features) that support this assertion.

Answer 1

Researchers have claimed that fungi are more related to animals than plants based on comparison of sequences of ribosomal RNA. The fungi were once considered to be plants because they grow in soil and have rigid cell wall. But now they are placed independently and are more related to animals than plants. Three facts which support this assertion are as follows:

a) Both fungi and animals are not producers like plants as they lack chlorophyll like and are dependent on external sources of food for energy ie are heterotrophs.

b) Fungi like animals have chitin in their cell wall. Chitin is the polysaccharide that provide hardness to exoskeleton of insects.

c) Comparison of ribosomal RNA sequences of fungi , animals and plants revealed that plants were first to diverge from common stem and animals as well as fungi evolved later from a common ancestor.