What is lichen?What type of association is formed is lichen?
Answers
A lichen is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi in a mutualistic relationship.
It is a stable symbiotic association between a fungus and algae and/or cyanobacteria.
Answer on lichen is given below:
Lichen is a symbiosis between two kinds of organisms, that is, algae and fungi where both gets benefited from one another.
We can see symbiotic type of association in lichen, that is, relationship of symbiosis between algae and fungi. Both acquires benefit from one another. The algal portion is called photobiont while the fungal portion is the mycobiont. The algal part is capable of making its own food and so fungi is dependent on it for nutrition and food. While the fungi supports the algal part and also helps in absorbing water.
The fungi in the lichens mostly belong to Basidiomycetes and Ascomycetes. And the algae mainly is the Chlorophyta. Lichens produces some compounds which we can use as dyes. It also serves as an indicator of pollution.
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