Question

Fungi have an extremely high surface-area-to-volume ratio. What is the advantage of this to an organism that gets most of its nutrition through absorption?

A) The larger surface area allows for more material to be transported through the cell membrane. B) The lower volume prevents the cells from drying out too quickly, which can interfere with absorption.C) This high ratio creates more room inside the cells for additional organelles involved in absorption.D) This high ratio means that fungi have a thick, fleshy structure that allows the fungi to store more of the food it absorbs.

Answer 1

The correct answer is: A) The larger surface area allows for more material to be transported through the cell membrane.

Fungi are usually in the form of complex network of filaments -mycelium. Mycelium consists of hyphae that are long, thin and branched which gives them high surface area to volume ratio. This property makes fungi well-adapted for absorption of nutrients from soil and other substrates.