Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their taxonomy, genetics, biochemical properties, and use by humans. Fungi can be a source of tinder, food, traditional medicine, as well as entheogens, poison, and infection. Mycology branches into the field of phytopathology, the study of plant diseases. The two disciplines are closely related, because the vast majority of plant pathogens are fungi. A biologist specializing in mycology is called a mycologist.
Lignin is a class of complex organic polymers that form key structural materials in the support tissues of most plants. Lignins are particularly important in the formation of cell walls, especially in wood and bark, because they lend rigidity and do not rot easily. Chemically, lignins are polymers made by cross-linking phenolic precursors.
The Polyporales are an order of about 1800 species of fungi in the division Basidiomycota. The order includes some polypores as well as many corticioid fungi and a few agarics. Many species within the order are saprotrophic, most of them wood-rotters. Some genera, such as Ganoderma and Fomes, contain species that attack living tissues and then continue to degrade the wood of their dead hosts. Those of economic importance include several important pathogens of trees and a few species that cause damage by rotting structural timber. Some of the Polyporales are commercially cultivated and marketed for use as food items or in traditional Chinese medicine.
Mycoremediation is a form of bioremediation in which fungi-based remediation methods are used to decontaminate the environment. Fungi have been proven to be a cheap, effective and environmentally sound way for removing a wide array of contaminants from damaged environments or wastewater. These contaminants include heavy metals, organic pollutants, textile dyes, leather tanning chemicals and wastewater, petroleum fuels, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, pesticides and herbicides in land, fresh water, and marine environments.
Laccases are multicopper oxidases found in plants, fungi, and bacteria. Laccases oxidize a variety of phenolic substrates, performing one-electron oxidations, leading to crosslinking. For example, laccases play a role in the formation of lignin by promoting the oxidative coupling of monolignols, a family of naturally occurring phenols. Other laccases, such as those produced by the fungus Pleurotus ostreatus, play a role in the degradation of lignin, and can therefore be classed as lignin-modifying enzymes. Other laccases produced by fungi can facilitate the biosynthesis of melanin pigments. Laccases catalyze ring cleavage of aromatic compounds.
Lignin-modifying enzymes (LMEs) are various types of enzymes produced by fungi and bacteria that catalyze the breakdown of lignin, a biopolymer commonly found in the cell walls of plants. The terms ligninases and lignases are older names for the same class, but the name "lignin-modifying enzymes" is now preferred, given that these enzymes are not hydrolytic but rather oxidative by their enzymatic mechanisms. LMEs include peroxidases, such as lignin peroxidase, manganese peroxidase, versatile peroxidase, and many phenoloxidases of the laccase type.
A wood-decay or xylophagous fungus is any species of fungus that digests moist wood, causing it to rot. Some species of wood-decay fungi attack dead wood, such as brown rot, and some, such as Armillaria, are parasitic and colonize living trees. Excessive moisture above the fibre saturation point in wood is required for fungal colonization and proliferation. In nature, this process causes the breakdown of complex molecules and leads to the return of nutrients to the soil. Wood-decay fungi consume wood in various ways; for example, some attack the carbohydrates in wood, and some others decay lignin. The rate of decay of wooden materials in various climates can be estimated by empirical models.
Coriolopsis gallica is a fungus found growing on decaying wood. It is not associated with any plant disease, therefore it is not considered pathogenic. For various Coriolopsis gallica strains isolated, it has been found, as a common feature of the division Basidiomycota, that they are able to degrade wood components, mainly lignin and to lesser extent cellulose, which results in a degradation area covered by the accumulating -white- cellulose powder. Therefore, C. gallica might generically be called, as with many other basidiomycetes, a "white-rot" fungus.
In enzymology, a lignin peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.14) is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction
In enzymology, a manganese peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.13) is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction
Daedalea quercina is a species of mushroom in the order Polyporales, and the type species of the genus Daedalea. Commonly known as the oak mazegill or maze-gill fungus, the specific epithet refers to the oak genus Quercus, upon which it frequently grows, causing a brown rot. It is found in Europe, Asia, Northern Africa and Australasia. Though inedible, it can be used as a natural comb and has been the subject of chemical research.
Cyathus stercoreus, commonly known as the dung-loving bird's nest or the dung bird's nest, is a species of fungus in the genus Cyathus, family Nidulariaceae. Like other species in the Nidulariaceae, the fruiting bodies of C. stercoreus resemble tiny bird's nests filled with eggs. The fruiting bodies are referred to as splash cups, because they are developed to use the force of falling drops of water to dislodge and disperse their spores. The species has a worldwide distribution, and prefers growing on dung, or soil containing dung; the specific epithet is derived from the Latin word stercorarius, meaning "of dung".
Mycena inclinata, commonly known as the clustered bonnet or the oak-stump bonnet cap, is a species of mushroom in the family Mycenaceae. The doubtfully edible mushroom has a reddish-brown bell-shaped cap up to 4.5 cm (1.8 in) in diameter. The thin stem is up to 9 cm (3.5 in) tall, whitish to yellow-brown at the top but progressively becoming reddish-brown towards the base in maturity, where they are covered by a yellowish mycelium that can be up to a third of the length of the stem. The gills are pale brown to pinkish, and the spore print is white. It is a widespread saprobic fungus, and has been found in Europe, North Africa, Asia, Australasia, and North America, where it grows in small groups or tufts on fallen logs and stumps, especially of oak. British mycologist E.J.H. Corner has described two varieties of the mushroom from Borneo. Lookalike species with which M. inclinata may be confused include M. galericulata and M. maculata.
Bjerkandera is a genus of wood-rotting fungi in the family Meruliaceae.
Haem peroxidases (or heme peroxidases) are haem-containing enzymes that use hydrogen peroxide as the electron acceptor to catalyse a number of oxidative reactions. Most haem peroxidases follow the reaction scheme:
Stereum ostrea, also called false turkey-tail and golden curtain crust, is a basidiomycete fungus in the genus Stereum. It is a plant pathogen and a wood decay fungus. The name ostrea, from the word 'oyster', describes its shape. With concentric circles of many colors, it highly resembles Trametes versicolor, turkey-tail, and is thus called the 'false turkey-tail'. The stemless fruiting body is shell-like and grows 1–7 cm (0.39–2.76 in) high. It is tough and inedible. It grows on tree bark. This fungus is native to the island of Java, Indonesia and has been misapplied to the North American Stereum species Stereum fasciatum, Stereum lobatum, and Stereum subtomentosum.
Versatile peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.16, VP, hybrid peroxidase, polyvalent peroxidase) is an enzyme with systematic name reactive-black-5:hydrogen-peroxide oxidoreductase. This enzyme catalyses the following chemical reaction
Dye-decolorizing peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.19, DyP, DyP-type peroxidase) is an enzyme with systematic name Reactive-Blue-5:hydrogen-peroxide oxidoreductase. This enzyme catalyses the following chemical reaction
Extracellular enzymes or exoenzymes are synthesized inside the cell and then secreted outside the cell, where their function is to break down complex macromolecules into smaller units to be taken up by the cell for growth and assimilation. These enzymes degrade complex organic matter such as cellulose and hemicellulose into simple sugars that enzyme-producing organisms use as a source of carbon, energy, and nutrients. Grouped as hydrolases, lyases, oxidoreductases and transferases, these extracellular enzymes control soil enzyme activity through efficient degradation of biopolymers.
Hypsizygus ulmarius, also known as the elm oyster mushroom, and less commonly as the elm leech, elm Pleurotus, is an edible fungus. It has often been confused with oyster mushrooms in the Pleurotus genus but can be differentiated easily as the gills are either not decurrent or not deeply decurrent. While not quite as common as true oyster mushrooms, they have a wide range globally in temperate forests. The mushrooms and vegetative hyphae of this species have been studied in recent years for their potential benefits to human health, and mycoremediation.
