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DISCUSSION OF THE TRUE FUNGI

The kingdom Fungi includes several phyla, here called the "True Fungi". They are all heterotrophic, meaning they do not carry out photosynthesis, are generally composed of more than one cell and have cell walls containing at least some chitin or chitosan, large polysaccharide molecules composed of repeating units of the amino sugars glucosamine and N-acetylglucosamine. Organisms having photosynthesis have never been discovered in this kingdom. Except for the two small groups of fungus-like organisms that are not true fungi treated on the previous page anything that looks like a fungus is likely to be a true fungus.

Mycologists generally recognize four phyla of true fungi, the Chytidiomycota, the Zygomycota, the Glomeromycota and the Dikarya. In practice these are not difficult to distinguish.

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