A living system can conserve energy by attaching permanently to a particular site because it can take advantage of resources that come its way, rather than expending energy to move to resources. A permanent attachment, intended to last the lifetime of the living system, creates special challenges. For example, physical mechanisms, such as the anchor that holds a marine algae to the ocean’s bottom, must be able to withstand forces that can pull it off its substrate. Chemical mechanisms, such as a barnacle’s glue, must avoid both physical and chemical breakdown, such as being dissolved by water.
Kingdom Fungi: Mildews, molds, mushrooms, rusts, smuts, and yeasts
Once thought to be more closely related to plants, fungi have been found to contain chitin in their cell walls, indicating a closer evolutionary relationship to animals. Fungi are decomposers, using digestive enzymes to break down their surroundings, making them an essential part of ecosystems worldwide, as new soil is formed from rotting matter. Almost all fungi reproduce through spores (mushrooms, molds) or asexual budding (some yeast). There are estimated to be more than 2 million species, but only about 140,000 have been described. Fungi have great importance in culture, food, and medicine (including being the source of penicillin) worldwide.
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