Fungal reproduction by Spore Formation.

• Fungi grow by producing long threads called hyphae.

• When food is in short supply fungi reproduce by asexual reproduction also known as spore formation.

• This process is shown in the diagrams below:

Asexual Reproduction of Yeast Cells by Budding

• Yeast is a unicellular fungus. This means each yeast organism is only made up of one cell.

• Yeast cells reproduce asexually by a process called budding.

• A small bud forms on the parent cell, grows and then separates to become a new yeast cell.

• The advantage of asexual reproduction over sexual reproduction is it is a quick process requiring only one parent cell, producing genetically identical offspring.

• The disadvantage of asexual reproduction over sexual reproduction is that there is no genetic variation.

Fungal Reproduction By Sexual Reproduction

Fungi can reproduce by sexual reproduction, but this is quite rare. The advantage of reproducing sexually is that this leads to variation which is very important if fungi want to survive.

The diagram below shows how fungi reproduce sexually.