← All chapters

Microbes · Chapter 5: Fungi and viruses

Year 11 SCX · About 18 minutes with activities · Turn your sound on

Chapter 5 · Fungi and viruses
Bread moulda fungus
Cold virusin a nose cell
Alive ✓cells + MRS GREN
Not living ✗no cells, no MRS GREN
Sporangiumcontains spores
Sporesreproductive cells
Hyphaefine threads
Myceliumhyphae network
Spike proteinattaches to cells
Envelopeouter layer
Capsidprotein coat
Genetic materialRNA or DNA

Chapter 5 recap

  • Rhizopus: hyphae (threads that digest food) form a mycelium; sporangia at hypha tips release spores, which germinate on moist food. Yeast buds; fungi also fragment, and + and − strains make zygospores (variation).
  • Feeding and waste: enzymes secreted from hyphae tips digest food outside the cell; the small molecules are absorbed and used for respiration and growth. Waste diffuses out (high → low). Yeast fermentation: glucose → ethanol + carbon dioxide (+ ATP).
  • Viruses: genetic material (RNA or DNA) inside a protein capsid, with an envelope and spike proteins. They replicate only in a host cell (attach, inject, instruct, assemble, burst), so they are not considered living.
  • Next: Chapter 6 · Useful microbes

Is a virus alive?

Chapter 5 · About 18 minutes · sound on

0:00
In Chrome this uses Google’s voice; other browsers use the recorded voice. Your choice here is remembered.