Fungi take on many forms. The mushrooms sprouting from fallen firs are fungi. The multicolored molds found on expired food and wet wood are fungi. Even the ground below our feet contains dense webs of white fungi. Fungi are all of these things and more. There is one thing a fungus is not though, and that is a plant.
Plants and fungi are fundamentally different, and while it is impossible to cover every distinction here, we can cover a few of the main differences. Firstly, the primary substances composing their cell walls are different. Secondly, their means of gathering nutrients are distinct. Finally, fungi play a unique role in creating a system scientists call the “Wood Wide Web.”
The first fundamental difference between fungi and plants lies in their cellular construction, specifically in the walls of their cells. Plant cell walls are primarily composed of cellulose, and this is true of all plants.
The cell walls of fungi are instead made of chitin, the hard substance found in the carapaces of crustaceans and insects. This is not the only difference between fungi and plant cells, but it is one of the key differences between their cells.
The second fundamental difference between fungi and plants is found in how they gather nutrients. Plants are considered autotrophs, or organisms that can generate their own nutrients. They can generate their own food by processing sunlight in cellular structures called chloroplasts, a process called photosynthesis.
Fungi, on the other hand, are heterotrophic, and gather food from the organic matter around them. Brian Lovett, a postdoctoral researcher focusing on fungal biology at West Virginia University, explained how fungi do this in his 2021 article titled “Three Reasons Fungi Are Not Plants.” According to Lovett, fungi secrete digestive enzymes into organic material to digest them. This explains why fungi are always found near or on organic matter and makes their method of “eating” more similar to humans than plants.
The third and final difference is fungi’s unique ability to create the “Wood Wide Web.” The “World Wide Web” is a topic worthy of its own article, but it is essentially an interconnected system of plants and fungi created by fungi.
Fungi connect themselves and other plants together through a web-like structure they create called hyphae, which then attach to plant roots. This allows all connected plants and fungi to share nutrients and is essential for the survival of many ecosystems.
Fungi and plants are distinct organisms with differences in their constructions and functions, but the “Wood Wide Web” highlights how they often need each other for survival.
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