Bacteria vs. Fungi: What's the Difference?
Read the comparison below, or explore it visually. Create a visual lesson comparing bacteria and fungi using available credits or plan allowance.
Bacteria are single-celled prokaryotes with no nucleus, while fungi are eukaryotes whose cells have a nucleus and which range from single-celled yeasts to moulds and mushrooms built from thread-like hyphae. Fungal cells are also far larger, and their walls are made of chitin rather than the peptidoglycan of bacterial walls, which is why antibiotics and antifungal medicines work differently.
At a glance
| Bacteria | Fungi | |
|---|---|---|
| Cell type | Prokaryotic: no nucleus | Eukaryotic: has a nucleus |
| Body form | Always single cells, sometimes in chains | Single-celled yeasts or multicellular hyphae |
| Cell wall | Peptidoglycan | Chitin |
| Reproduction | Binary fission: one cell splits into two | Spores, budding or growth of hyphae |
| Everyday examples | Lactobacillus in curd, Rhizobium in roots | Baker's yeast, bread mould, mushrooms |
Which should you use?
Bacteria are at work when milk sets into curd overnight, as lactic acid bacteria turn milk sugar into acid, or when root-nodule bacteria fix nitrogen for pulses.
Fungi are at work when yeast makes bread dough rise by releasing carbon dioxide, when black mould grows on stale bread, or when mushrooms decompose fallen leaves.