Lichens...?

[Chuck Dunn]

Kellie_Bonnici wrote:
> 
> I'll be straight forward with y'all - the following questions are to help me
> out with my homework!
> 
> I've known for a while that lichens are composed of genera from two different
> phyla. Now, are these phyla cyanobacteria and chlorophyta OR cyanobacteria and
> fungi, OR am I way off base all together?

A few gelatinous lichens from the tropics harbor cyanobacteris, and 
cyanobacteria will grow on the surface or anything, including lichens.  
But most lichens are ascomycete fungi and chlorophyta.
> 
> That's my main important question, mostly because I *have* known the answer in
> the past (and since forgotten) and because I find symbiosis very interesting
> ... (well, it's on the lab assignment too, but the most interesting questions
> come first!). I have two more questions which I'm stumped on (cuz I can't
> afford the text yet, and the damn library has hardly any botany texts more
> current than 1976, and terminology, classification, etc, etc *do* change over
> 20 year periods!!!)
> 
> #1 what are endosymbionts? name a member of chlorophyta which is an
> endosymbiont and its host.Endosymbionts live their entire lives within their host.  The only ones I 
know of are fungi living in grasses.
> 
> #2 how does a unicellular green alga differ from a bacterium?Bacteria are prokaryotic (lacking a nucleus or other organelles) while 
chlorophyta are eukaryotic.
> 
> So, this is probably bad netiquite, I appologize for that. If anyone is
> interested in helping me out with this, I'd really appreciate it.
> 
> TIA
> 
> KellieGlad to see somebody intersted in lichens.