Navigation Links
Mycology


Mycology is the study of fungi, their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy, and their use to humans as a source for medicinals (see penicillin) and food (beer, wine, cheese, edible mushrooms), as well as their dangers, such as poisoning or infection. Mycology is closely related to phytopathology: the study of plant diseases. Historically, mycology was a branch of Botany (despite fungi not being plants and being evolutionarily more closely related to animals than plants). Pioneer mycologists were Elias Magnus Fries, Christian Hendrik Persoon, and Anton de Bary.

Today, the most comprehensively studied and understood fungi are the yeasts and eukaryotic model organisms Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

Many fungi produce toxins, antibiotics, and other secondary metabolites. For example, the cosmopolitian (worldwide) genus Fusarium and their toxins associated with fatal outbreaks of alimentary toxic aleukia in humans were extensively studied by Abraham Joffe . Also, fungi are fundamental for life on earth in their roles as symbionts, e.g. in the form of mycorrhizae, insect symbionts and lichens as well as their potency in breaking down complex organic biomolecules such as wood as well as xenobiotics are a critical step in the global carbon cycle.

Fungi and other organisms traditionally recognized as fungal often are economically and socially important as they are responsible for diseases of animals as well as plants like Potato blight (actually, an oomycete).

Field expeditions to find interesting types of fungi (often edible mushrooms) are known as mushroom forays , and are typically led by an expert mycologist.

See also

External links


'"/>


See more about: Mycology

TAG: Mycology
(Date:11/23/2009)... , , , , , , , ...Marshall, from the Environment Department at the U...yongia magomberae and his wider work in Tanzania....ion. , , , , , , , ... , , , A new species of chameleon has bee...
(Date:11/23/2009)...ix-week-old turkey poults could save millions of m...according to Dr. Gerald Steiner from the Dresden U...heir use of infrared spectroscopy to determine the... accurate method with the potential to be used by ...e eggs for breeding. The pilot study has just been...
(Date:11/23/2009)...l irritants such as air pollution and cigarette sm...oday in the American Journal of Respiratory and C...from Imperial College London and the University of...gs that can trigger coughing when a person is expo...st that their findings may ultimately lead to the ...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):New chameleon species discovered in East Africa 2New chameleon species discovered in East Africa 3Rescuing male turkey chicks 2Research reveals exactly how coughing is triggered by environmental irritants 2Abbott and AstraZeneca Submit New Drug Application to the FDA for CERTRIAD 28TM 29 an Investigational Treatment for Mixed Dyslipidemia 47887 1Abbott and AstraZeneca Submit New Drug Application to the FDA for CERTRIAD 28TM 29 an Investigational Treatment for Mixed Dyslipidemia 47887 2Abbott and AstraZeneca Submit New Drug Application to the FDA for CERTRIAD 28TM 29 an Investigational Treatment for Mixed Dyslipidemia 47887 3Abbott and AstraZeneca Submit New Drug Application to the FDA for CERTRIAD 28TM 29 an Investigational Treatment for Mixed Dyslipidemia 47887 4Abbott and AstraZeneca Submit New Drug Application to the FDA for CERTRIAD 28TM 29 an Investigational Treatment for Mixed Dyslipidemia 47887 5Vision Pharma Is Granted Motion for Judgment 47885 1Vision Pharma Is Granted Motion for Judgment 47885 2Go Healthy Enters Letter of Intent to Acquire Premium Water Source 47883 1Go Healthy Enters Letter of Intent to Acquire Premium Water Source 47883 2
...e and it triggers thoughts of their battle against...erta researcher has found an important spin-off fo...m, a PhD student from the Department of Biological...ime the benefits of pollen on boreal lakes. Rich i...lant fertilization but few think of its importance...
...vestors picking stocks, humans make a wide range o...d. However, laboratory studies have not been able ...rmation-processing "subcortical" regions of the br..., Steven Quartz and colleagues at the California I...ing task that, when performed by humans undergoing...
... launched an ambitious new program that calls for ...s over the next decade, according to an article in...called "Tigers Forever," blends a business model w...tention of venture capitalists who have pledged an... involves a dozen WCS field sites where an estimat...
Other Biology News:Brain's 'gambling circuitry' identified 2Brain's 'gambling circuitry' identified 3Tigers get a business plan 2
Other biology definitionOther Tags