What group of organisms includes molds, yeasts, and mushrooms?

The group of organisms that includes molds, yeasts, and mushrooms is fungi. Fungi are a distinct group of eukaryotic organisms that play various roles in nature, including decomposing organic material and forming symbiotic relationships with plants.

Molds are filamentous fungi that can lead to the spoilage of food, while yeasts are unicellular fungi commonly used in baking and fermentation processes. Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of certain fungi, often seen above ground, which are essential for reproduction.

Their cellular structure, reproductive methods, and ecological functions differentiate fungi from other groups such as algae, bacteria, and viruses. Algae are typically photosynthetic organisms found in aquatic environments, bacteria are unicellular prokaryotic organisms that can exist in a variety of environments and may cause diseases, and viruses are not classified as living organisms since they need a host to replicate. Thus, fungi stand out as their own category characterized by key features that include both multicellular forms like mushrooms and unicellular forms like yeast.