Answer: It is multinucleate and lacks septa (cross walls).
- A It is divided into compartments by septa in general practice
- B It is multinucleate and lacks septa (cross walls)
- C It produces mainly sexual spores as commonly described
- D It is found mainly in Basidiomycetes in most textbook accounts
Correct answer: B. It is multinucleate and lacks septa (cross walls)
Explanation: A coenocytic hypha is aseptate (lacks septa/cross walls) and multinucleate, as seen in Phycomycetes such as Rhizopus and Mucor. Septate hyphae, by contrast, are divided into individual cells by cross walls.
Whittaker's five-kingdom system (1969) groups all cellular life by cell structure and nutrition; viruses, viroids, and lichens fall outside this system entirely since they aren't independently classifiable as one of the five.
Concept context
Whittaker's five kingdom system covering Monera, Protista, Fungi, plus viruses, viroids, and lichens. A foundational NEET chapter on how living organisms are grouped.