Final answer:
Fungi are more closely related to animals than plants based on DNA comparisons and because they are heterotrophic, have chitin in their cell walls, and store glycogen. They absorb nutrients and act as ecosystem decomposers, unlike plants that utilize photosynthesis. The fungal phylum Basidiomycota includes mushrooms, showcasing the diversity within the kingdom.
Step-by-step explanation:
Fungi were once classified as plants due to some superficial similarities including immobility, presence of cell walls, and growth in soil. However, DNA comparisons have revealed that fungi are more closely related to animals than plants. Unlike plants, fungi are heterotrophic and not capable of photosynthesis; they depend on organic compounds for energy and carbon. Furthermore, the cell wall of fungi is made of chitin, a substance also found in the exoskeletons of arthropods. Moreover, fungi store carbohydrates as glycogen, which is the same substance that animals utilize as a storage form of glucose.
One of the major differences between plants and fungi is in their nutrition; plants are autotrophic and produce their own food through photosynthesis, whereas fungi absorb nutrients from their environment. Fungi also play a crucial role in ecosystems as decomposers, a function that plants do not provide. The fungi kingdom is vast and diverse, including organisms such as mushrooms which belong to the phylum Basidiomycota. This phylum encompasses fungi that reproduce through the production of basidiospores, typically released from a fruiting body or mushroom.
Their role in ecology ranges from being plant parasites to engaging in mutual relationships with other organisms, such as the symbiotic mycorrhizal associations with plant roots or mutualistic relationships with insects, like those between ants and certain fungi that create gardens within their colonies. In these relationships, the fungi provide food for the ants, and in turn, the ants provide the fungi with suitable growing conditions.