DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ALGAE AND FUNGI

Characteristics of Algae

1. Algae are photosynthesis organisms that posses’ photosynthetic pigments such as chlorophyll.
2. Algae are found where there is adequate moisture.
3. They may be unicellular or multicellular organisms.
4. Lack of well-defined body, so structure like roots, steam or leaves are absent.
5. Reproduction in algae takes place in sexual or asexual methods. Asexual reproduction occurs by spore formation.
6. Reserved food is stored in the form of starch and oil.
7. Although the sporophyte is the diploid stage, the gametophyte is the haploid stage. Both generations are separate from one another. Most of the time, the diploid stage is created directly after fertilization and goes through meiosis right away to create haploid cells. There is no embryogenesis.
8. Algae being free living organisms, they have the capacity to form symbiotic relationships with other species.
9. Algae are eukaryotic thallophytes.
10. Most of the algae are aquatic but some of them are terrestrial may be found in moist tree soil and rocks.

Characteristics of fungi

1. These are non-vascular organisms. They lack a vascular system. There are no Xylem or Phloem.
2.  In fungi, there is no embryonic stage.
3. Spores can be formed in both sexual and asexual forms depending on the species.
4. Since they lack chlorophyll, fungi cannot carry out photosynthesis.
5. Starch is the kind of food that fungi store.
6. Being eukaryotic creatures, fungi have genuine nuclei that are covered by membranes.
7. A few types of fungi may infect their hosts as parasites.
8. There is no embryonic stage in fungi, so they develop from the spore.
9. Fungi possess cell wall which is made from the chitin and polysaccharides.
10. The fungi of nuclei are very small.

Differences between algae and fungi