Fungi the cause of many outbreaks of disease but most...( Fungi can cause a number of life-thr...)

Fungi can cause a number of life-threatening diseases but they also are becoming increasingly useful to science and manufacturing every year. However, many people, scientists among them, are largely unaware of the roles fungi play in the world around us. Research on fungi and fungal diseases are seriously neglected as a result a situation with grave negative repercussions for human health, agriculture, and the environment-- according to The Fungal Kingdom: Diverse and Essential Roles in Earth's Ecosystem, a new report from the American Academy of Microbiology.

The report is the product of a colloquium convened by the Academy in November, 2007, where experts in mycology, medicine, plant pathogens, and ecology discussed the current state of research in mycology and compiled a list of specific recommendations for future work.

"The average person is at risk for several fungal diseases, from toenail infections to athlete's foot to life threatening systemic infections," says Arturo Casadevall of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and one of the co-chairs of the colloquium. "Fungi may also predispose people to asthma and allergic diseases," says Casadevall. Despite the frequency of fungal infections, according to the report they are relatively understudied, making fungal infections difficult to diagnose and treat. When faced with an undiagnosed fungal infection, doctors are forced to treat their patient without a firm grasp of which drugs will work and which drugs will only cost the patient valuable time.

But fungi are more than just a medical problem: as the cause of more than half of all plant diseases, fungi are also an expensive drain on agriculture. The economic repercussions of managing fungal pathogens on crops the money and effort spent, the numerous pesticide applications, the consequences of these applications for surface water and soil quality, and the impacts on crop yields are extraordinary.

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