Question

At one time, all living organisms were separated into only two kingdoms—Animals and Vegetables. Once the microscope was invented and improvements in microscopy were made, however, more kingdoms were defined.

The Protist kingdom was established in 1866, and the Monera kingdom was added in 1938. The Monera kingdom was later subdivided into the Bacteria and Archaea kingdoms in the 1990s.

Fungi were classified as plants until 1969.
What is one reason why fungi were separated into a new kingdom?
A.
Fungi are able to undergo photosynthesis and make their own food. Plants get the nutrients that they need by consuming other organisms.
B.
Fungi are prokaryotic. Plants are eukaryotic.
C.
The cell walls in fungi are composed of chitin. Plant cell walls are composed of cellulose.
D.
All fungi are unicellular. All plants are multicellular.

Answer 1

The cell walls in fungi are composed of chitin. Plant cell walls are composed of cellulose.

Step-by-step explanation:

Both fungal and plant cells are eukaryotic, and they have cell walls. However, plant cell walls are composed of cellulose, whereas the cell walls in fungi are composed of chitin. Chitin is the same substance that is found in the exoskeletons of crabs, lobsters, and insects.

Another main difference between the plant kingdom and the fungus kingdom is that most plants are photosynthetic autotrophs (i.e., they make their own food by using energy from the Sun). A few plants, however, cannot undergo photosynthesis. Non-photosynthetic plants tend to be parasitic heterotrophs.

Although some fungi are unicellular (e.g., yeasts), most fungi are multicellular.

Answer 2

C. The cell walls in fungi are composed of chitin. Plant cell walls are composed of cellulose.

Step-by-step explanation:

The correct option would be C, that the cell walls of fungi are composed of chitin while that of plants are composed majorly of cellulose.

Option A would not be the correct option because fungi are achlophyllous and as such, they are not able to photosynthesize. Plants are autotrophic and as such, they do not consume other organisms to get their nutrients (except the insectivorous plants.

Option B is incorrect because fungi are far from being prokaryotic. Their cells have nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles. Just like plants. fungi are also eukaryotic.

Option D would also be incorrect because Most fungi are multicellular, except yeasts which are unicellular. Some photosynthetic algae which can be considered plants are unicellular.

Plants and fungi differ mainly in their ability feeding habits. While plants can manufacture their own foods through photosynthesis, fungi cannot. Rather they carryout extracellular digestion of their foods before absorbing the digested materials.

Both plants and fungi also differ in their cell wall components. The cell walls of plants are made up largely of cellulose while that of fungi contain chitin.

The correct option is C.