:''For the fictional character, see
Fungus the Bogeyman. For the music genre, see
Fungi (music)''
'Fungi' (singular 'fungus') are a
kingdom of
eukaryotic organisms. The fungi are
heterotrophic organisms characterized by a
chitinous
cell wall, and in the majority of species, filamentous growth as multicellular
hyphae forming a
mycelium; some fungal species also grow as single
cells. Sexual and asexual reproduction is via spores, often produced on specialized structures or in
fruiting bodies.
Yeasts,
molds, and
mushrooms are examples of fungi. The discipline of
biology devoted to the study of fungi is known as
mycology.
General features and distribution
Fungi have a worldwide distribution, and grow in a wide range of habitats, including
deserts. Most fungi grow in terrestrial environments, but several species occur only in aquatic habitats. Fungi along with
bacteria are the primary
decomposers of
organic matter in almost all terrestrial
ecosystems worldwide. There are an estimated 1.5 million fungal species of which around 70,000 have been described. Most fungi grow as thread-like filaments called
hyphae, which form a
mycelium, while others grow as single cells.
[1][2]
Importance for human use
Sacharomyces cerevisiae cells in DIC microscopy.
Human use of fungi for food preparation or preservation and other purposes is extensive and has a long history:
yeasts are required for
fermentation of
beer,
wine [3] and
bread, some other fungal species are used in the production of
soy sauce and
tempeh.
Mushroom farming and gathering is a large industry in many countries. Many fungi are producers of
antibiotics, including
β-lactam antibiotics such as
penicillin and
cephalosporin.
[4] Widespread use of these antibiotics for the treatment of bacterial diseases, such as
tuberculosis,
syphilis,
leprosy, and many others began in the early 20th Century and continues to play a major part in anti-bacterial
chemotherapy. The study of the historical uses and sociological impact of fungi is known as
ethnomycology.
Cultured foods
Baker's yeast or ''
Saccharomyces cerevisiae'', a single-cell fungus, is used in the baking of
bread and other wheat-based products, such as
pizza and
dumplings.
[5] Several yeast species of the genus
Saccharomyces are also used in the production of
alcoholic beverages through
fermentation.
[6] Mycelial fungi, such as the
shoyu koji mold (''
Aspergillus oryzae''), are used in the brewing of
Shoyu (
soy sauce) and preparation of
tempeh.
[7] Quorn is a high-protein product made from the mould, ''
Fusarium venenatum'', and is used in
vegetarian cooking.
Other human uses
Fungi are also used extensively to produce industrial chemicals like
lactic acid,
antibiotics and even to make stonewashed
jeans.
[8] Several fungal species are ingested for their
psychedelic properties, both
recreationally and religiously (see main article, ''
Psilocybin mushrooms'').
Edible and poisonous fungi
Some of the most well-known types of fungi are the
edible and the
poisonous mushrooms. Many species are commercially raised, but others must be harvested from the wild. ''
Agaricus bisporus'', sold as button mushrooms when small or Portobello musrooms when larger, are the most commonly eaten species, used in salads, soups, and many other dishes. Other commercially grown mushrooms that have gained in popularity in the West and are often available fresh in grocery stores include
straw mushrooms (''
Volvariella volvacea''),
oyster mushrooms (''
Pleurotus ostreatus''),
shiitakes (''
Lentinula edodes''), and
enokitake (''
Flammulina'' spp.).
There are many more mushroom species that are
harvested from the wild for personal consumption or commercial sale.
Milk mushrooms,
morels,
chanterelles,
truffles,
black trumpets, and
porcini mushrooms (also known as king boletes) all demand a high price on the market. They are often used in gourmet dishes.
For certain types of
cheeses, it is also a common practice to inoculate milk curds with fungal spores to foment the growth of specific species of
mold that impart a unique flavor and texture to the cheese. This accounts for the
blue colour in cheeses such as
Stilton or
Roquefort which is created using ''
Penicillium roqueforti'' spores.
[9] Molds used in cheese production are usually non-toxic and are thus safe for human consumption; however, toxic fungal metabolites (e.g.,
aflatoxins,
roquefortine C,
patulin, or others) may accumulate due to fungal spoilage during cheese ripening or storage.
[10]
Many mushroom species are toxic to humans, with toxicities ranging from slight digestive problems or
allergic reactions as well as
hallucination to severe organ failures and death. Some of the most deadly mushrooms belong to the genera ''
Inocybe'', ''
Cortinarius'', and most infamously, ''
Amanita'', which includes the destroying angel ''(
A. virosa)'' and the death cap ''(
A. phalloides)'', the most common cause of deadly mushroom poisoning.
[11] Fly agaric mushrooms (''A. muscaria'') also cause occasional poisonings, mostly as a result of ingestion for use as a
recreational drug for its
hallucinogenic properties. Historically Fly agaric was used by
Celtic
Druids in Northern Europe and the
Koryak people of north-eastern
Siberia for religious or shamanic purposes.
[12] It is difficult to identify a safe mushroom without proper training and knowledge, thus it is often advised to assume that a mushroom in the wild is poisonous and not to consume it.
Fungi in the biological control of pests
Some fungi capable of competing with or infecting other organisms are considered beneficial for human use. For example in agriculture, some fungi may be used to restrict or eliminate the populations of harmful organisms like pest insects,
mites,
weeds,
nematodes and other fungi, such as those that affect the growth or even kill plants.
[13] This has generated strong interest in the use and practical application of these fungi for the
biological control of pests. Some of these fungi can be used as
biopesticides, like the ones that kill insects (
entomopathogenic fungi).
[14] Specific examples of fungi that have been developed as
bioinsecticides are ''
Beauveria bassiana'', ''
Metarhizium anisopliae'',
Hirsutella, ''
Paecilomyces fumosoroseus'', and ''
Verticillium lecanii''.
[15] [16] Endophytic fungi of grasses of the genus ''
Neotyphodium'', such as ''
N. coenophialum'' produce
alkaloids toxic to a range of different
herbivores, thus protecting the grass plants from herbivory, but also causing poisoning of grazing animals, such as cattle and sheep.
[17] Infection of grass cultivars of
turf or
forage grasses with isolates of the grass endophytes that produce only specific alkaloids to improve grass hardiness and resistance to herbivores such as insects, while being non-toxic to livestock, is being used in
grass breeding programs.
[18]
Ecological role
Although often inconspicuous, fungi occur in every environment on
Earth and play very important roles in most
ecosystems. Along with bacteria, fungi are the major
decomposers in most terrestrial (and some aquatic) ecosystems, and therefore play a critical role in
biogeochemical cycles and in many
food webs. As decomposers, they play an indispensable role in
nutrient cycling, especially as
saprotrophs and
symbionts, degrading organic matter to inorganic molecules, which can then re-enter anabolic metabolic pathways in plants or other organisms.
[19][20]
Fungi as symbionts
Many fungi have important
symbiotic relationships with organisms from most if not all
Kingdoms.
[21][22][23] These interactions can be mutualistic or antagonistic in nature, or in case of commensal fungi are of no apparent benefit or detriment to the host.
[24][25][26]
In symbiosis with plants
Mycorrhizal symbiosis between
plants and fungi is one of the most well-known plant-fungus associations and is of significant importance for plant growth and persistence in many ecosystems; over 90% of all plant species engage in some kind of mycorrhizal relationship with fungi and are dependent upon this relationship for survival.
[27][28][29] The mycorrhizal symbiosis is ancient, dating to at least 400 million years ago.
[30] It often increases the plant's uptake of inorganic compounds, such as
nitrate and
phosphate from soils having low concentrations of these key plant nutrients.
[31] In some mycorrhizal associations, the fungal partners may mediate plant-to-plant transfer of carbohydrates and other nutrients. Such mycorrhizal communities are called "common mycorrhizal networks".
[32]
Lichens are formed by a symbiotic relationship between
algae or
cyanobacteria (referred to in lichens as "photobionts") and fungi (mostly various species of ascomycetes and a few basidiomycetes), in which individual photobiont cells are embedded in a tissue formed by the fungus. As in
mycorrhizas, the photobiont provides sugars and other carbohydrates, while the fungus provides minerals and water. The functions of both symbiotic organisms are so closely intertwined that they function almost as a single organism.
In symbiosis with insects
Many insects also engage in
mutualistic relationships with various types of fungi. Several groups of ants cultivate fungi in the order
Agaricales as their primary food source, while
ambrosia beetles cultivate various species of fungi in the bark of trees that they infest.
[33] Termites on the African Savannah are also known to cultivate fungi.
[34]
Fungi as pathogens and parasites
However, many fungi are parasites on plants, animals (including
humans), and other fungi. Serious fungal pathogens of many cultivated plants causing extensive damage and losses to agriculture and forestry include the
rice blast fungus ''
Magnaporthe grisea'',
[35] tree pathogens such as ''
Ophiostoma ulmi'' and ''
Ophiostoma novo-ulmi'' causing
Dutch elm disease,
[36] and ''
Cryphonectria parasitica'' responsible for
chestnut blight,
[37] and plant-pathogenic fungi in the genera ''
Fusarium'', ''
Ustilago'', ''
Alternaria'', and ''
Cochliobolus'';
fungi with the potential to cause serious human diseases, especially in persons with
immuno-deficiencies, are in the genera ''
Aspergillus'', ''
Candida'', ''
Cryptoccocus'',
[38] ''
Histoplasma'',
[40] and ''
Pneumocystis''.
[41] Several pathogenic fungi are also responsible for relatively minor human
diseases, such as
athlete’s foot and
ringworm. Some fungi are
predators of
nematodes, which they capture using an array of devices such as constricting rings or adhesive nets.
[42]
Nutrition and possible autotrophy in fungi
Growth of fungi as
hyphae on or in solid substrates or single cells in aquatic environments is adapted to efficient extraction of nutrients from these environments, because these growth forms have high
surface area to volume ratios. These adaptations in
morphology are complemented by
hydrolytic enzymes secreted into the environment for digestion of large organic molecules, such as
polysaccharides,
proteins,
lipids, and other organic substrates into smaller molecules.
[43][44][45] These molecules are then absorbed as nutrients into the fungal
cells.
Traditionally, the fungi are considered
heterotrophs, organisms that rely solely on carbon fixed by other organisms for
metabolism. Fungi have
evolved a remarkable metabolic versatility that allows many of them to use a large variety of organic substrates for growth, including simple compounds as
nitrate,
ammonia,
acetate, or
ethanol.
[46] [47] Recent research raises the possibility that some fungi utilize the pigment
melanin to extract energy from
ionizing radiation, such as
gamma radiation for
"radiotrophic" growth.
[48] It has been proposed that this process might bear some similarity to photosynthesis in plants,
but detailed biochemical data supporting the existence of this hypothetical pathway are presently lacking.
Morphology
Mold covering a decaying peach over a period of six days. The frames were taken approximately 12 hours apart.
Though fungi are part of the
opisthokont clade, all phyla except for the
chytrids have lost their posterior flagella.
[49] Fungi are unusual among the eukaryotes in having a cell wall that, besides
glucans (e.g., β-1,3-glucan) and other typical components, contains the
biopolymer chitin.
[50] Many fungi grow as thread-like filamentous macroscopic structures called
hyphae, and an assemblage of intertwined and interconnected hyphae is called a
mycelium.
[1] Fungal mycelia can become visible macroscopically, for example, as concentric rings on various surfaces, such as damp walls, and on other substrates, such as spoilt food (see figure), and are commonly and generically called ''
mould''; fungal mycelia grown on solid
agar media in laboratory
petri dishes are usually referred to as colonies, with many species exhibiting characteristic macroscopic growth morphologies and colours, due to spores or
pigmentation.
Hyphae can be septate, i.e., divided into hyphal compartments separated by a ''
septum'', each compartment containing one or more
nuclei or can be
coenocytic, i.e., lacking hyphal compartmentalization. However, septa have pores, such as the
doliporus in the basidiomycetes that allow cytoplasm, organelles, and sometimes nuclei to pass through.
Coenocytic hyphae are essentially
multinucleate supercells. In some cases, fungi have developed specialized structures for nutrient uptake from living hosts; examples include
haustoria in plant-parasitic fungi of nearly all divisions, and
arbuscules of several
mycorrhizal fungi
[52], which penetrate into the host cells for nutrient uptake by the fungus. Specialized fungal structures important in
sexual reproduction are the
apothecia,
perithecia, and
cleistothecia in the ascomycetes, and the
fruiting bodies of the basidiomycetes, and a few ascomycetes, which can sometimes grow very large and are well known as
mushrooms.
Reproduction
Fungi on a fence post near
Orosí, Costa Rica.
Reproduction of fungi is complex, reflecting the heterogeneity in lifestyles and genetic make up within this group of organisms.
Many fungi reproduce both sexually or asexually, depending on conditions in the environment. These conditions trigger genetically determined developmental programs leading to the expression of specialized structures for sexual or asexual reproduction. These structures aid both reproduction and efficient dissemination of spores or spore-containing propagules.
Asexual reproduction
Asexual reproduction via vegetative
spores or through mycelial fragmentation is common in many fungal species and allows more rapid dispersal than sexual reproduction. In the case of the "Fungi imperfecti" or
Deuteromycota, which lack a sexual cycle, it is the only means of propagation. Asexual spores, upon
germination, may found a population that is
clonal to the population from which the spore originated, and thus colonize new environments.
Sexual reproduction
Sexual reproduction with
meiosis exists in all fungal phyla, except the Deuteromycota. It differs in many aspects from sexual reproduction in animals or plants. Many differences also exist between fungal groups and have been used to discriminate fungal clades and species based on morphological differences in sexual structures and reproductive strategies. Experimental crosses between fungal isolates can also be used to identify species based on
biological species concepts. The major fungal clades have initially been delineated based on the morphology of their sexual structures and spores; for example, the spore-containing structures,
asci and
basidia, can be used in the identification of ascomycetes and basidiomycetes, respectively. Many fungal species have elaborate
vegetative incompatibility systems that allow
mating only between individuals of opposite
mating type, while others can mate and sexually reproduce with any other individual or itself. Species of the former mating system are called
heterothallic, and of the latter
homothallic.
[53]
Most fungi have both a
haploid and
diploid stage in their life cycles. In all sexually reproducing fungi, compatible individuals combine by cell fusion of vegetative hyphae by
anastomosis, required for the initiation of the sexual cycle. Ascomycetes and basidiomycetes go through a
dikaryotic stage, in which the
nuclei inherited from the two parents do not fuse immediately after cell fusion, but remain separate in the hyphal cells (see
heterokaryosis).
In ascomycetes fungi, dikaryotic hyphae form
asci (''sing.'' ascus), in which
karyogamy (nuclear fusion) occurs. These asci are embedded in an
ascocarp, or fruiting body, of the fungus. Karyogamy in the asci is followed immediately by meiosis and the production of ascospores. The ascospores are disseminated and germinate and may form a new haploid mycelium.
Sexual reproduction in basidiomycetes is similar to that of the ascomycetes. Compatible haploid hyphae fuse to produce a dikaryotic mycelium. However, the dikaryotic phase is more extensive in the basidiomycetes, in many cases also present in the vegetatively growing mycelium. A
basidiocarp is formed in which club-like structures known as
basidia generate haploid
basidiospores after karyogamy and meiosis.
[54] The most commonly known basidiocarps are mushrooms, but they may also take many other forms (see Morphology section).
In zygomycetes, haploid hyphae of two individuals fuse, forming a
zygote, which develops into a
zygospore. When the zygospore germinates, it quickly undergoes
meiosis, generating new haploid hyphae, which in turn may form asexual
sporangiospores. These sporangiospores are means of rapid dispersal of the fungus and germinate into new genetically identical haploid fungal colonies, able to mate and undergo another sexual cycle followed by the generation of new zygospores, thus completing the lifecycle.
Other sexual processes
Besides regular sexual reproduction with meiosis, some fungal species may exchange genetic material via
parasexual processes, initiated by anastomosis between hyphae and
plasmogamy of fungal cells. The frequency and relative importance of parasexual events is unclear and may be lower than other sexual processes. However, it is known to play a role in intraspecific hybridization
[55] and is also likely required for hybridization between fungal species, which has been associated with major events in fungal evolution.
[56]
Phylogeny and classification
For a long time
taxonomists considered fungi to be members of the
Plant Kingdom. This early classification was based mainly on similarities in lifestyle: both fungi and plant are mainly
sessile, have similarities in general
morphology and growth habitat (like plants, fungi often grow in soil, in the case of
mushrooms forming conspicuous
fruiting bodies, which sometimes bear resemblance to plants such as
mosses). Moreover, both groups possess a
cell wall, which is absent in the
Animal Kingdom. However, the fungi are now considered a separate kingdom, distinct from both plants and animals, from which they appear to have diverged approximately one billion years ago.
[57] Many studies have identified several distinct morphological, biochemical, and genetic features in the Fungi, clearly delineating this group from the other kingdoms. For these reasons, the fungi are placed in their own
kingdom, '
Eumycota'.
Physiological and morphological traits
Similar to animals and unlike most plants, fungi lack the capacity to synthesize organic carbon by chlorophyll-based
photosynthesis; whereas plants store the reduced carbon as
starch, fungi, like animals and some bacteria, use
glycogen [carbohydrates. A major component of the cell wall in many fungal species is the nitrogen-containing carbohydrate, chitin,[58] also present in some animals, such as the insects and crustaceans, while the plant cell wall consists chiefly of the carbohydrate cellulose. The defining and unique characteristics of fungal cells include growth as hyphae, which are microscopic filaments of between 2-10 microns in diameter and up to several centimetres in length, and which combined form the fungal mycelium. Some fungi, such as yeasts, grow as single ovoid cells, similar to unicellular algae and the protists.]
Unlike many plants, most fungi lack an efficient vascular system, such as xylem or phloem for long-distance transport of water and nutrients; as an example for convergent evolution, some fungi, such as ''Armillaria'', form rhizomorphs or mycelial cords,[59] resembling and functionally related to, but morphologically distinct from, plant roots.
Some characteristics shared between plants and fungi include the presence of vacuoles in the cell [60], and a similar pathway in the biosynthesis of terpenes using mevalonic acid and pyrophosphate as biochemical precursors; plants however use an additional terpene biosynthesis pathway in the chloroplasts that is apparently absent in fungi.[61] Ancestral traits shared among members of the fungi include chitinous cell walls and heterotrophy by absorption.
Similar to plants, fungi produce a plethora of secondary metabolites functioning as defensive compounds or for niche adaptation; however, biochemical pathways for the synthesis of similar or even identical compounds often differ markedly between fungi and plants. [63][64]
Evolutionary history
Even though traditionally included in many botany curricula and textbooks, fungi are now thought to be more closely related to animals than to plants, and are placed with the animals in the monophyletic group of opisthokonts. [65]For much of the Paleozoic Era, the fungi appear to have been aquatic, and consisted of organisms similar to the extant Chytrids in having flagellum-bearing spores.[66] The first land fungi probably appeared in the Silurian, right after the first land plants appeared, even though their fossils are fragmentary. For some time after the Permian-Triassic extinction event, a fungal spike, detected as an extraordinary abundance of fungal spores in sediments formed shortly after this event, indicates that they were the dominant life form during this period—nearly 100% of the fossil record available from this period.[67]
Analyses using molecular phylogenetics support a monophyletic origin of the Fungi.[68] The taxonomy of the Fungi is in a state of constant flux, especially due to recent research based on DNA comparisons. These current phylogenetic analyses often overturn classifications based on older and sometimes less discriminative methods based on morphological features and biological species concepts obtained from experimental matings.[69][70]
There is no unique generally accepted system at the higher taxonomic levels and there are constant name changes at every level, from species upwards. However, efforts among fungal researchers are now underway to establish and encourage usage of a unified and more consistent nomenclature.
Cladogram
The taxonomic groups of fungi
The major divisions (phyla) of fungi have been classified based mainly on their sexual reproductive structures. Currently, seven fungal divisions are proposed:
★ The Chytridiomycota are commonly known as chytrids. These fungi are ubiquitous with a worldwide distribution; chytrids produce zoospores that are capable of active movement through aqueous phases with a single flagellum. Consequently, some taxonomists had earlier classified them as protists on the basis of the flagellum. Molecular phylogenies, inferred from the rRNA-operon sequences representing the 18S, 28S, and 5.8S ribosomal subunits, suggest that the Chytrids are a basal fungal group divergent from the other fungal divisions, consisting of four major clades with some evidence for paraphyly or possibly polyphyly. [71]
★ The Blastocladiomycota were previously considered a taxonomic clade within the Chytridiomycota. Recent molecular data and ultrastructural characteristics, however, place the Blastocladiomycota as a sister clade to the Zygomycota, Glomeromycota, and Dikarya (Ascomycota and Basiomycota). The blastocladiomycetes are fungi that are saprotrophs and parasites of all eukaryotic groups and undergo sporic meiosis unlike their close relatives, the chytrids, which mostly exhibit zygotic meiosis.
★ The Neocallimastigomycota were earlier placed in the phylum Chytridomycota. Members of this small phylum are anaerobic organisms, living in the digestive system of larger herbivorous mammals and possibly in other terrestrial and aquatic environments. They lack mitochondria but contain hydrogenosomes of mitochondrial origin. As the related chrytrids, neocallimastigomycetes form zoospores that are posteriorly uniflagellate or polyflagellate.
★ The Zygomycota contain the taxa, Zygomycetes and Trichomycetes, and reproduce sexually with meiospores called zygospores and asexually with sporangiospores. Black bread mold (''Rhizopus stolonifer'') is a common species that belongs to this group; another is ''Pilobolus'', which is capable of ejecting spores several meters through the air. Medically relevant genera include ''Mucor'', ''Rhizomucor'', and ''Rhizopus''. Molecular phylogenetic investigation has shown the Zygomycota to be a polyphyletic phylum with evidence of paraphyly within this taxonomic group. [72]
★ Members of the Glomeromycota are fungi forming arbuscular mycorrhizae with higher plants. Only one species has been observed forming zygospores; all other species solely reproduce asexually. The symbiotic association between the Glomeromycota and plants is ancient, with evidence dating to 400 million years ago.
Diagram of an apothecium (the typical cup-like reproductive structure of Ascomycetes) showing sterile tissues as well as developing and mature asci.
★ The Ascomycota, commonly known as sac fungi or ascomycetes, constitute the largest taxonomic group within the Eumycota. These fungi form meiotic spores called ascospores, which are enclosed in a special sac-like structure called an ascus. This division includes morels, a few mushrooms and truffles, single-celled yeasts (e.g., of the genera ''Saccharomyces'', ''Kluyveromyces'', ''Pichia'', and ''Candida''), and many filamentous fungi living as saprotrophs, parasites, and mutualistic symbionts. Prominent and important genera of filamentous ascomycetes include ''Aspergillus'', ''Penicillium'', ''Fusarium'', and ''Claviceps''. Many ascomycetes species have only been observed undergoing asexual reproduction (called anamorphic species), but molecular data has often been able to identify their closest teleomorphs in the Ascomycota. Because the products of meiosis are retained within the sac-like ascus, several ascomyctes have been used for elucidating principles of genetics and heredity (e.g. ''Neurospora crassa'').
★ Members of the Basidiomycota, commonly known as the club fungi or basidiomycetes, produce meiospores called basidiospores on club-like stalks called basidia. Most common mushrooms belong to this group, as well as rust (fungus) and smut fungi, which are major pathogens of grains. Other important Basidiomyces include the maize pathogen,''Ustilago maydis'', human commensal species of the genus ''Malassezia'', and the opportunistic human pathogen, ''Cryptococcus neoformans''.
Phylogenetic relationships with other fungus-like organisms
Although the water molds or oomycetes and slime molds or myxomycetes have traditionally been placed in the kingdom Fungi and those who study them are still called mycologists, they are not true fungi. Unlike true fungi, the cell walls of water molds and slime molds contain cellulose and lack the carbohydrate-polymer, chitin, and many of the oomycetes are diploid organisms. Slime molds are unikonts like fungi, but are grouped in the Amoebozoa. Water molds, however, are bikonts, grouped in the Chromalveolate kingdom.
See also
★ Bioaerosol
★ Carnivorous fungus
★ Fusicoccin
★ List of fungal orders
★ MycoBank
★ Mycotoxin
★ Plant pathology
★ Wood-decay fungus
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34. Pascal Jouquet, Virginie Tavernier, Luc Abbadie and Michel Lepage. ''Nests of subterranean fungus-growing termites (Isoptera, Macrotermitinae) as nutrient patches for grasses in savannah ecosystems''. African Journal of Ecology. 2005. Vol 43, 191–196
35. On the trail of a cereal killer: Exploring the biology of Magnaporthe grisea., Talbot NJ, , , Annu Rev Microbiol., 2003
36. Selective acquisition of novel mating type and vegetative incompatibility genes via interspecies gene transfer in the globally invading eukaryote Ophiostoma novo-ulmi., Paoletti M, Buck KW, Brasier CM., , , Mol Ecol., 2006
37. New taxonomic concepts for the important forest pathogen Cryphonectria parasitica and related fungi., Gryzenhout M, Wingfield BD, Wingfield MJ., , , FEMS Microbiol Lett., 2006
38. Sex and virulence of human pathogenic fungi., Nielsen K, Heitman J., , , Adv Genet., 2007
39. Systemic fungal infections caused by Aspergillus species: epidemiology, infection process and virulence determinants., Brakhage AA, , , Curr. Drug Targets, 2005
40. Histoplasmosis: a clinical and laboratory update, Kauffman CA., , , Clin Microbiol Rev., 2007
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Further reading
★ Alexopoulos, C.J., Charles W. Mims, M. Blackwell et al., ''Introductory Mycology, 4th ed.'' (John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken NJ, 2004) ISBN 0-471-52229-5
★ Arora, David. (1986). "Mushrooms Demystified: A Comprehensive Guide to the Fleshy Fungi". 2nd ed. Ten Speed Press. ISBN 0898151694
★ Deacon JW. (2005). "Fungal Biology" (4th ed). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers. ISBN 1-4051-3066-0.
★ Kaminstein D. (2002). Mushroom poisoning.
External links
★ The WWW Virtual Library: Mycology
★ MykoWeb: Mycological Links
★ MushroomExpert.com
★ MykoWeb
★ Tom Volk's Fungi
★ Illinois Mycological Association Mycological Glossary
★ Tree of Life web project: Fungi
★ "Introduction to the Fungi", ''University of California Museum of Paleontology''.
★ ''Fungal Biology'', ''University of Sydney, School of Biological Sciences'', June, 2004. – Online textbook
★ ''The Fifth Kingdom'' – Online textbook
★ Australian National Botanic Gardens Fungi Web Site – Online textbook
★ Pacific Northwest Fungi, Online Journal
★ North American Mycological Association
★ Mycological Society of America
★ British Mycological Society
★ Sydney Fungal Studies Group
★ fungi as mycobionts in lichens
★ CABI Bioscience Databases - Includes ''Index Fungorum'' genus and species names and top-down hierarchy
★ Mushroom Observer - A site for recording observations of mushrooms and getting help identifying unknown collections
★ Comparative Analysis of Fungal Genomes (at DOE's IMG system)
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