FUNGI

Fungi

Fungi include yeasts and moulds as well as the more familiar mushrooms and toadstools. They are different from plants in that they possess no chlorophyll, the green pigment that enables plants to make their own food from air (CO2) and water (H2O). Consequently they need food and digest organic material with the help of enzymes, just as animals do.

They are unlike plants in their cellular composition too, with cell walls of chitin (the substance that insect exoskeletons are made of) instead of the cellulose found in plants.

The visible part of most fungi is the reproductive structure that produces spores. The main ‘body’ of the fungus is the mycelium, in the form of sometimes microscopically small threads (hyphae) that permeate the organic material it feeds on.

Fungi can often reproduce both asexually, by fragmentation of the mycelium or by producing vegetative spores, or sexually, when the growth of a spore- producing body is preceded by an exchange of genetic material with another individual.

Taxonomic distinctions are usually based on the type of ‘fruiting’, or spore-bearing structure produced and this in turn reflects the habitat and food source of the fungus.

Although often inconspicuous, fungi occur in every environment on Earth and play very important roles in all ecosystems. Along with bacteria, fungi are the major decomposers in most terrestrial (and some aquatic) ecosystems, and therefore play a critical role in food webs. As decomposers, they play an essential role in nutrient (re)cycling.

They have long been used as a direct source of food, such as mushrooms and truffles, as a leavening agent for bread, and in fermentation of various food products, such as wine, beer, and soy sauce. Since the 1940s, fungi have been used for the production of antibiotics, and, more recently, various enzymes produced by fungi are used industrially and in detergents. Fungi are also used as biological pesticides to control weeds, plant diseases and insect pests. Many species produce bioactive compounds called mycotoxins that are toxic to animals including humans. The ‘fruiting’ structures of a few species contain psychotropic compounds’.

Losses of crops due to fungal diseases (e.g. rice blast disease) or food spoilage can have a large impact on human food supplies and local economies.

The study of fungi is called Mycology.

(source: Wikipedia)