Biological Classification – Kingdom-Fungi: NEET MCQs with Answers

15 free questions on Biological Classification – Kingdom-Fungi for NEET (UG), starting with previous-year NEET and AIPMT questions. Try each one, then tap Show answer for the answer and a short explanation.

Syllabus covered: Kingdom-Fungi

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Question 1

Previous-year question
Match List-I with List-II and choose the correct answer from the options given below. [NEET 2022 (Overseas)]
List-I:
(a) Puccinia
(b) Neurospora
(c) Saprophytes
(d) Albugo
List-II:
(i) Parasitic fungus on mustard
(ii) Dead substrates
(iii) Wheat rust
(iv) Biochemical and genetic work
  1. (a)-(iii), (b)-(iv), (c)-(ii), (d)-(i)
  2. (a)-(i), (b)-(ii), (c)-(iii), (d)-(iv)
  3. (a)-(iv), (b)-(ii), (c)-(i), (d)-(iii)
  4. (a)-(iii), (b)-(ii), (c)-(iv), (d)-(i)
Show answer
Answer: (A) (a)-(iii), (b)-(iv), (c)-(ii), (d)-(i)
Explanation: Puccinia causes wheat rust (iii); Neurospora is used extensively in biochemical and genetic work (iv); saprophytes grow on dead substrates (ii); Albugo is a parasitic fungus on mustard (i). So (a)-(iii), (b)-(iv), (c)-(ii), (d)-(i).

Question 2

Previous-year question
Which of the following fungi does not belong to the same group as the others? [NEET 2022 (Overseas)]
  1. Puffballs
  2. Mushrooms
  3. Bracket fungi
  4. Sac-fungi
Show answer
Answer: (D) Sac-fungi
Explanation: Puffballs, mushrooms and bracket fungi are all Basidiomycetes (club fungi). Sac-fungi are Ascomycetes, which produce ascospores inside sac-like asci, so they are the odd one out.

Question 3

Previous-year question
Match the fungal classes in Column I with the examples in Column II and choose the correct option. [NEET 2021 (Paper-2)]
Column I:
a. Ascomycetes
b. Phycomycetes
c. Basidiomycetes
d. Deuteromycetes
Column II:
i. Ustilago
ii. Saccharomyces
iii. Trichoderma
iv. Albugo
  1. a–ii, b–i, c–iv, d–iii
  2. a–iv, b–iii, c–ii, d–i
  3. a–ii, b–iv, c–i, d–iii
  4. a–iii, b–iv, c–i, d–ii
Show answer
Answer: (C) a–ii, b–iv, c–i, d–iii
Explanation: Saccharomyces (yeast) is an ascomycete, Albugo a phycomycete, Ustilago (smut) a basidiomycete and Trichoderma a deuteromycete. Thus a–ii, b–iv, c–i, d–iii.

Question 4

Previous-year question
Which one of the following statements is correct? [NEET 2021]
  1. Fusion of two cells is called Karyogamy.
  2. Fusion of protoplasms between two motile or non-motile gametes is called plasmogamy.
  3. Organisms that depend on living plants are called saprophytes.
  4. Some of the organisms can fix atmospheric nitrogen in specialized cells called sheath cells.
Show answer
Answer: (B) Fusion of protoplasms between two motile or non-motile gametes is called plasmogamy.
Explanation: Plasmogamy is the fusion of the protoplasms of two motile or non-motile gametes. Karyogamy is the fusion of two nuclei, organisms depending on living plants are parasites (saprophytes use dead organic matter), and nitrogen is fixed by cyanobacteria in heterocysts, not sheath cells.

Question 5

Previous-year question
Which of the following statements is INCORRECT? [NEET 2019]
  1. Morels and truffles are edible delicacies
  2. Claviceps is a source of many alkaloids and LSD
  3. Conidia are produced exogenously and ascospores endogenously
  4. Yeasts have filamentous bodies with long thread-like hyphae
Show answer
Answer: (D) Yeasts have filamentous bodies with long thread-like hyphae
Explanation: Yeasts are UNICELLULAR fungi and do not possess a filamentous body of long thread-like hyphae; at most they form a pseudomycelium of budding cells. The other three statements are correct.

Question 6

Previous-year question
One of the major components of the cell wall of most fungi is [NEET 2016]
  1. chitin
  2. peptidoglycan
  3. cellulose
  4. hemicellulose
Show answer
Answer: (A) chitin
Explanation: Fungal cell walls are composed of chitin (a nitrogen-containing polysaccharide) along with other polysaccharides. Peptidoglycan occurs in bacterial walls and cellulose in plant walls.

Question 7

Previous-year question
The imperfect fungi which are decomposers of litter and help in mineral cycling belong to [AIPMT 2015]
  1. Basidiomycetes
  2. Phycomycetes
  3. Ascomycetes
  4. Deuteromycetes
Show answer
Answer: (D) Deuteromycetes
Explanation: Deuteromycetes are the imperfect fungi. Besides saprophytic and parasitic members, a large number of them are decomposers of litter and thereby help in mineral cycling in ecosystems.
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Question 8

Previous-year question
Which one is a WRONG statement? [AIPMT 2015]
  1. Mucor has biflagellate zoospores
  2. Haploid endosperm is a typical feature of gymnosperms
  3. Brown algae have chlorophyll a and c and fucoxanthin
  4. Archegonia are found in Bryophyta, Pteridophyta and Gymnosperms
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Answer: (A) Mucor has biflagellate zoospores
Explanation: Mucor reproduces asexually by non-motile APLANOSPORES formed in sporangia; biflagellate zoospores are absent in it. The remaining three statements are correct.

Question 9

Previous-year question
Choose the WRONG statement. [AIPMT 2015]
  1. Neurospora is used in the study of biochemical genetics
  2. Morels and truffles are poisonous mushrooms
  3. Yeast is unicellular and useful in fermentation
  4. Penicillium is multicellular and produces antibiotics
Show answer
Answer: (B) Morels and truffles are poisonous mushrooms
Explanation: Morels (Morchella) and truffles are highly prized EDIBLE delicacies, not poisonous mushrooms. The other three statements are correct.

Question 10

Previous-year question
Which one of the following matches is correct? [AIPMT 2015]
  1. Alternaria – Sexual reproduction absent – Deuteromycetes
  2. Mucor – Reproduction by conjugation – Ascomycetes
  3. Agaricus – Parasitic fungus – Basidiomycetes
  4. Phytophthora – Aseptate mycelium – Basidiomycetes
Show answer
Answer: (A) Alternaria – Sexual reproduction absent – Deuteromycetes
Explanation: Alternaria is a deuteromycete in which the sexual stage is unknown. Mucor is a phycomycete (not an ascomycete), Agaricus is saprophytic (not parasitic), and Phytophthora with its aseptate mycelium belongs to Phycomycetes, not Basidiomycetes.

Question 11

Previous-year question
Which one of the following fungi contains hallucinogens? [AIPMT 2014]
  1. Morchella esculenta
  2. Amanita muscaria
  3. Neurospora sp.
  4. Ustilago sp.
Show answer
Answer: (B) Amanita muscaria
Explanation: Amanita muscaria (fly agaric) contains the hallucinogenic compounds muscimol and ibotenic acid. Morchella esculenta (morel) is an edible delicacy, Neurospora is used in genetics and Ustilago is the smut fungus.

Question 12

Previous-year question
The chemical compounds produced by host plants to protect themselves against fungal infection are [AIPMT 1995]
  1. phytotoxin
  2. pathogen
  3. phytoalexins
  4. hormone
Show answer
Answer: (C) phytoalexins
Explanation: Phytoalexins are low-molecular-weight antimicrobial chemical substances synthesised by plants in response to fungal infection; they are toxic to fungi and form part of the plant's induced defence system. Phytotoxins, by contrast, are toxins produced by the pathogen.

Question 13

Previous-year question
Which of the following is NOT correctly matched? [AIPMT 1995]
  1. Root knot disease — Meloidogyne javanica
  2. Smut of bajra — Tolyposporium penicillariae
  3. Covered smut of barley — Ustilago nuda
  4. Late blight of potato — Phytophthora infestans
Show answer
Answer: (C) Covered smut of barley — Ustilago nuda
Explanation: Covered smut of barley is caused by Ustilago hordei, in which the sorus or smut ball is covered by a peridium of host cells; Ustilago nuda causes loose smut of barley, in which no such covering is present. The other three pairs are correctly matched.

Question 14

Previous-year question
Mycorrhiza is [AIPMT 1996]
  1. a symbiotic association of plant roots and certain fungi
  2. an association of algae with fungi
  3. a fungus parasitising the root system of higher plants
  4. an association of Rhizobium with the roots of leguminous plants
Show answer
Answer: (A) a symbiotic association of plant roots and certain fungi
Explanation: Mycorrhiza is a symbiotic (mutually beneficial) association between a fungus and the roots of higher plants. The fungal partner obtains food from the roots of the higher plant, and in return supplies water and mineral elements — especially phosphorus — to it.

Question 15

Previous-year question
Puccinia forms [AIPMT 1998]
  1. uredia and aecia on wheat leaves
  2. uredia and telia on wheat leaves
  3. uredia and aecia on barberry leaves
  4. uredia and pycnia on barberry leaves
Show answer
Answer: (B) uredia and telia on wheat leaves
Explanation: Puccinia graminis tritici produces uredospores (uredia) and teleutospores (telia) on the wheat host, while pycnia and aecia are formed on the alternate host, barberry. This alternation of spore stages between two hosts is characteristic of heteroecious rusts.

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