Republic of the Philippines

PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF ADVANCED STUDIES
Urdaneta City, Pangasinan

MASTER OF ARTS IN EDUCATION PROGRAM

Major in Science

MIDTERM EXAMINATION

1. What day did God created ________________ (reported/not yet reported species)? (4 pts)
The fungi (singular, fungus) once were considered to be plants because they grow out of the soil and
have rigid cell walls. Now they are placed independently in their own kingdom of equal rank with the
animals and plants and, in fact, are more closely related to animals than to plants. Like the animals, they
have chitin in their cell walls and store reserve food as glycogen. (Chitin is the polysaccharide that gives
hardness to the external skeletons of lobsters and insects.) They lack chlorophyll and are heterotrophic.
Familiar representatives include the edible mushrooms, molds, mildews, yeasts, and the plant
pathogens, smuts and rusts.
2. What are the characteristics of ______________(reported/not yet reported species)? Explain using the following.
( 22 pts)
O - organization
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Phylum: Basidiomycota
Subphylum: Agaricomycotina
Class: Agaricomycetes
Subclass: Agaricomycetidae
Order: Agaricales
Family: Pleurotaceae
Genus: Pleurotus
Species: Pleurotus ostreatus
M – movement
This mushroom species is highly tolerant to variations in temperature, humidity, light levels and carbon
dioxide levels, and therefore an ideal crop for poor resourced smallholder farmers who often reside in
unstable environmental conditions (Atikpo et al., 2008). Furthermore, oyster mushrooms can be
produced on a small piece of land and have shorter production cycles and also require low production
inputs
R - respiration
Pleurotus ostreatus grows underground, away from the sunlight and open atmosphere where plants
grow. However, fungi also breathe like other types of plants, despite their existence underground. They
manage this through the natural pores in soil. Soil is made of many different substances, include
particles of minerals, water, roots and organisms like fungi. In between these particles there are small
pockets of air. This air, like the air in the upper atmosphere, contains everything plants need to absorb
from the air, especially oxygen. When a fungus produces mushrooms or other growths, they exchange
gas with the atmosphere just as plants do.
S – sensitivity
Pleurotus ostreatus survival and multiplication are associated to a number of factors, which may act
individually or have interactive effects among them. Intensive cultivations of edible mushrooms can
 Republic of the Philippines
PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF ADVANCED STUDIES
Urdaneta City, Pangasinan

MASTER OF ARTS IN EDUCATION PROGRAM

Major in Science
often be affected by some fungal and bacterial diseases that rather frequently cause dramatic
production loss. These infections are facilitated by the particular conditions under which the mushroom
cultivation is commonly carried out, such as warm temperatures, humidity, carbon dioxide (CO2) levels
and presence of pests. Due to these reasons, mushroom growers are frequently challenged by
mushroom disease of bacterial and fungal origin.
G – growth and life cycle

R – reproduction
Fungi tend to have unique and fairly complex life cycles and Pleurotus ostreatus is no exception. As
mentioned on the classification page, Pleurotus is a member of the basidiomycota, meaning that it bears
its spores externally on club shaped structures called basidia.
As a typical member of the basidiomycota, sexual reproduction in oyster mushrooms follows a regular
pattern marked by a number of major events.
R – response to stimuli
Mushrooms like pleurotus ostreatus can sense environmental signals and react accordingly, changing
their development, direction of growth, and metabolism. Sensory perception lies at the heart of
adaptation to changing conditions, and helps fungi to improve growth and recycle organic waste, and to
know when and how to infect a plant or animal host.
E - excretion
Pleurotus ostreatus feed by absorbing nutrients from the organic material in which they live. Fungi do
not have stomachs. They must digest their food before it can pass through the cell wall into the hyphae.
Hyphae secrete acids and enzymes that break the surrounding organic material down into simple
molecules they can easily absorb - this is composting.
N - nutrition

I - interaction/interrelationship
Pleurotus ostreatus have been part of our human diet since time

immemorial. They were used as food even before man

understood the use of other organisms. Undoubtedly,

mushrooms were one of man’s earliest foods, and they

were often considered an exotic and luxurious food

reserved for the rich. Today mushrooms are food for both

the rich and the poor. They can be grown anywhere as

 Republic of the Philippines
PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF ADVANCED STUDIES
Urdaneta City, Pangasinan

MASTER OF ARTS IN EDUCATION PROGRAM

Major in Science
long as the conditions for their growth and cultivation are

provided. Available mushroom technologies range in

complexity from very high to amazingly low.

A – adaptation
3. What could be the niche of the ___________________(reported/not yet reported species)? (4 pts)
The wood-decay fungi are divided, in turn, into two groups: brown-rot, which degrade cellulose and
hemicellulose, and white-rot, which degrade lignin, as well as cellulose and hemicellulose. The white-rot
fungi, in particular, play a crucial role in the global carbon cycle, by virtue of their ability to decompose
large, complex lignin molecules, which constitute the most recalcitrant form of carbon found in plant
material. Biodegradation of lignin is not thoroughly understood, but some of the more well-researched
metabolic pathways involve the lignolytic enzymes manganese peroxidase, lignin peroxidase, and
cellobiose dehydrogenase.

It is the activity of these fungi that releases the nutrients and energy stored in the structural elements of
plants, which get their strength and rigidity from an abundance of lignin, into a form usable by other
organisms. Most of the wood-decaying fungi under cultivation are white-rot fungi.
4. Using _____________(reported/not yet reported species), how could you make the world a better place
4.1 in responding to the changing climate? (10 pts)
4.2 in responding to the corona virus disease-covid 19? (10 pts)

Note: Please submit on or before March 21 through idevera@psu.edu.ph or messenger. God bless you with good
health always.