Fungi

 

Fungi 

 

Definition of mycology :Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans as a source for tinder, traditional medicine, food, and entheogens, as well as their dangers, such as toxicity or infection.

 

Fungus and mycosis;

Fungal infections, or mycoses , are caused by fungi. Many are mild and easy to treat, but others are very serious.Mycosis, plural Mycoses, in humans and domestic animals, a disease caused by any fungus that invades the tissues, causing superficial, subcutaneous, or systemic disease.

 

Classification of fungus:  The kingdom Fungi contains five major phyla that were established according to their mode of sexual reproduction or using molecular data.The five true phyla of fungi are the Chytridiomycota (Chytrids), the Zygomycota (conjugated fungi), the Ascomycota (sac fungi), the Basidiomycota (club fungi) and the recently described Phylum Glomeromycota. The Deuteromycota is an informal group of unrelated fungi that all share a common character – they use strictly asexual reproduction.

 

General characteristics of fungus:

●     Most fungi grow as tubular filaments called hyphae. An interwoven mass of hyphae is called a mycelium.

●     The walls of hyphae are often strengthened with chitin, a polymer of N-acetylglucosamine.

●     Fungi disperse themselves by releasing spores, usually windblown.

●     Fungi are heterotrophic.

 

 

Structure of fungus: Fungi are eukaryotes and have a complex cellular organization. As eukaryotes, fungal cells contain a membrane-bound nucleus where the DNA is wrapped around histone proteins. A few types of fungi have structures comparable to bacterial plasmids (loops of DNA).

 

Difference between fungus and bacteria:  Bacteria are single-celled microscopic organisms that are characterized by the presence of incipient nucleus and few membrane-less cell organelles. Fungi, singular fungus, are eukaryotes that are characterized by the presence of chitin in the cell wall. All bacteria are prokaryotes. All fungi are eukaryotes.