Lichens are an example of a symbiotic (mutualistic) relationship between fungi and algae (or fungi and cyanobacteria – blue-green algae).

Lichens are an example of a symbiotic (mutualistic) relationship between fungi and algae (or fungi and cyanobacteria – blue-green algae). Guess from what original type of biotic relationship this variant of symbiosis could have formed.

lichen fungi are not found separately from algae, while the majority of lichen algae are also free-living forms. Mushrooms in a lichen periodically eat both dead and healthy algae cells. So it is most likely that at the initial stages of the evolutionary formation of lichens, fungi parasitized algae or even simply ate them.