thallus

Examples of thallus in the following topics:

• Mutualistic Relationships with Fungi and Fungivores

  • The body of a lichen, referred to as a thallus, is formed of hyphae wrapped around the photosynthetic partner .
  • The thallus of lichens grows very slowly, expanding its diameter a few millimeters per year.
  • This cross-section of a lichen thallus shows the (a) upper cortex of fungal hyphae, which provides protection; the (b) algal zone where photosynthesis occurs, the (c) medulla of fungal hyphae, and the (d) lower cortex, which also provides protection and may have (e) rhizines to anchor the thallus to the substrate.

• Liverworts and Hornworts

  • In this latter type of reproduction, the gemmae (small, intact, complete pieces of plant that are produced in a cup on the surface of the thallus) are splashed out of the cup by raindrops.
  • Photosynthetic cells in the thallus contain a single chloroplast.
  • A liverwort, Lunularia cruciata, displays its lobate, flat thallus.

• Bryophytes

  • In a bryophyte, all the conspicuous vegetative organs, including the photosynthetic leaf-like structures, the thallus, stem, and the rhizoid that anchors the plant to its substrate, belong to the haploid organism, or gametophyte.

• Zygomycota: The Conjugated Fungi

  • Zygomycetes have a thallus of coenocytic hyphae in which the nuclei are haploid when the organism is in the vegetative stage.

• Charales

  • In Charales, large cells form the thallus: the main stem of the alga.

• Fungi Reproduction

  • They may be released from the parent thallus, either outside or within a special reproductive sac called a sporangium.

• Fungi Cell Structure and Function

  • The vegetative body of a fungus is a unicellular or multicellular thallus.