Fungi are what type of organisms in terms of nutrition?

• A. Autotrophs
• B. Saprophytes; Heterotrophs
• C. Photoautotrophs
• D. Parasitic

Answer: (B)

Fungi are heterotrophs. They cannot make their own food through photosynthesis, so they obtain energy by breaking down external organic matter and absorbing the nutrients. A common and important way they do this is as saprophytes—feeding on dead or decaying organic material by secreting enzymes that digest it outside their bodies and then taking up the resulting simpler molecules. While some fungi can be parasitic, relying on living hosts, the defining nutritional trait that applies broadly to fungi is heterotrophy, with saprophytic nutrition illustrating a typical mode.