Question

To which groups of fungi do the following belong: ergot, puffballs, bread mould, yeast, morel and bracket fungi.

Answer 1

Fungi constitute a unique kingdom of heterotrophic organisms. They show a great diversity in terms of morphology and habitat. These above groups belong to the various classes of fungi which are phycomycetes, ascomycetes, basidiomycetes and deuteromycetes.

Complete answer:
Fungi is a kingdom of organisms which are cosmopolitan and occurs in air, water and soil. They prefer to grow in warm and humid places. The morphology of the mycelium, mode of spore formation and fruiting bodies form the basis for the division of the kingdom into following classes:
PHYCOMYCETES- They are found in aquatic habitats and on decaying wood in moist and damp places or as obligate parasites on the plants. Asexual reproduction is by zoospores or by aplanospores. These gametes are similar in morphology or may be dissimilar.
ASCOMYCETES- They are commonly known as sac- fungi. They are saprophytic, decomposers, parasitic or coprophilous. The asexual spores are conidia that is produced on the mycelium called conidiosphores. When we talk about sexual spores called ascospores which are produced exogenously in sac like asci.
BASIDIOMYCETES- They are grown in soil, tree stumps and in living bodies as parasites. The asexual spores are generally not found, but vegetative reproduction by fragmentation is very common. The sex organs are absent but plasmogamy is brought by fusion of two vegetative or somatic cells.
DEUTEROMYCETES- They are commonly known as imperfect fungi because only the asexual phases of these fungi is known. When sexual forms of these fungi are known they are moved into classes they rightly belong to. They reproduce only by asexual spores known as conidia. The mycelium is septate and branched.
The above groups are classified in following groups:
Ergot- Ascomycetes
Puffballs- Ascomycetes
Bread mould- zygomycetes
Yeast- Ascomycetes
Morels- Ascomycetes
Bracket fungi- Basidiomycetes

Note: In past mycology, though fungi were not known but were genetically more closely related to animals than to plants. Most fungi are inconspicuous because of the small size and their cryptic lifestyle that they have. They are noticeable only when fruiting. They perform an essential function of decomposition of the organic waste and have a fundamental role in nutrient cycling.