Mycology

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Mushrooms are considered a kind of fungal reproductive organ. Mycena leaiana var. australis.jpg
Mushrooms are considered a kind of fungal reproductive organ.

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.

Contents

Overview

Although mycology was historically considered a branch of botany, the 1969 discovery [1] of fungi's close evolutionary relationship to animals resulted in the study's reclassification as an independent field. [2] Pioneer mycologists included Elias Magnus Fries, Christian Hendrik Persoon, Anton de Bary, Elizabeth Eaton Morse, and Lewis David von Schweinitz. Beatrix Potter, author of The Tale of Peter Rabbit , also made significant contributions to the field. [3]

Pier Andrea Saccardo developed a system for classifying the imperfect fungi by spore color and form, which became the primary system used before classification by DNA analysis. He is most famous for his Sylloge Fungorum [4] , which was a comprehensive list of all of the names that had been used for mushrooms. Sylloge is still the only work of this kind that was both comprehensive for the botanical kingdom Fungi and reasonably modern.[ citation needed ]

Many fungi produce toxins, [5] antibiotics, [6] and other secondary metabolites. For example, the cosmopolitan genus Fusarium and their toxins associated with fatal outbreaks of alimentary toxic aleukia in humans were extensively studied by Abraham Joffe. [7]

Fungi are fundamental for life on earth in their roles as symbionts, e.g. in the form of mycorrhizae, insect symbionts, and lichens. Many fungi are able to break down complex organic biomolecules such as lignin, the more durable component of wood, and pollutants such as xenobiotics, petroleum, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. By decomposing these molecules, fungi play a critical role in the global carbon cycle.

Fungi and other organisms traditionally recognized as fungi, such as oomycetes and myxomycetes (slime molds), often are economically and socially important, as some cause diseases of animals (including humans) and of plants. [8]

Apart from pathogenic fungi, many fungal species are very important in controlling the plant diseases caused by different pathogens. For example, species of the filamentous fungal genus Trichoderma are considered one of the most important biological control agents as an alternative to chemical-based products for effective crop diseases management. [9]

Field meetings to find interesting species of fungi are known as 'forays', after the first such meeting organized by the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club in 1868 and entitled "A foray among the funguses[ sic ]". [10]

Some fungi can cause disease in humans and other animals; the study of pathogenic fungi that infect animals is referred to as medical mycology. [11]

History

It is believed that humans started collecting mushrooms as food in prehistoric times. Mushrooms were first written about in the works of Euripides (480–406 BC). The Greek philosopher Theophrastos of Eresos (371–288 BC) was perhaps the first to try to systematically classify plants; mushrooms were considered to be plants missing certain organs. It was later Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD), who wrote about truffles in his encyclopedia Natural History . [12] The word mycology comes from the Ancient Greek: μύκης (mukēs), meaning "fungus" and the suffix -λογία (-logia), meaning "study". [13]

Fungi and truffles are neither herbs, nor roots, nor flowers, nor seeds, but merely the superfluous moisture or earth, of trees, or rotten wood, and of other rotting things. This is plain from the fact that all fungi and truffles, especially those that are used for eating, grow most commonly in thundery and wet weather.

Jerome Bock (Hieronymus Tragus), 1552 [14]

The Middle Ages saw little advancement in the body of knowledge about fungi. However, the invention of the printing press allowed authors to dispel superstitions and misconceptions about the fungi that had been perpetuated by the classical authors. [15]

Group photograph taken at a meeting of the British Mycological Society in 1913 British Mycological Society 1913 a.jpg
Group photograph taken at a meeting of the British Mycological Society in 1913

The start of the modern age of mycology begins with Pier Antonio Micheli's 1737 publication of Nova plantarum genera. [16] Published in Florence, this seminal work laid the foundations for the systematic classification of grasses, mosses and fungi. He originated the still current genus names Polyporus [17] and Tuber, [18] both dated 1729 (though the descriptions were later amended as invalid by modern rules).

The founding nomenclaturist Carl Linnaeus included fungi in his binomial naming system in 1753, where each type of organism has a two-word name consisting of a genus and species (whereas up to then organisms were often designated with Latin phrases containing many words). [19] He originated the scientific names of numerous well-known mushroom taxa, such as Boletus [20] and Agaricus , [21] which are still in use today. During this period, fungi were still considered to belong to the plant kingdom, so they were categorized in his Species Plantarum . Linnaeus' fungal taxa were not nearly as comprehensive as his plant taxa, however, grouping together all gilled mushrooms with a stem in genus Agaricus. [22] [23] Thousands of gilled species exist, which were later divided into dozens of diverse genera; in its modern usage, Agaricus only refers to mushrooms closely related to the common shop mushroom, Agaricus bisporus . [24] For example, Linnaeus gave the name Agaricus deliciosus to the saffron milk-cap, but its current name is Lactarius deliciosus . [25] On the other hand, the field mushroom Agaricus campestris has kept the same name ever since Linnaeus's publication. [26] The English word "agaric" is still used for any gilled mushroom, which corresponds to Linnaeus's use of the word. [24]

The term mycology and the complementary term mycologist are traditionally attributed to M.J. Berkeley in 1836. [27] However, mycologist appeared in writings by English botanist Robert Kaye Greville as early as 1823 in reference to Schweinitz. [28]

Mycology and drug discovery

For centuries, certain mushrooms have been documented as a folk medicine in China, Japan, and Russia. [29] Although the use of mushrooms in folk medicine is centered largely on the Asian continent, people in other parts of the world like the Middle East, Poland, and Belarus have been documented using mushrooms for medicinal purposes. [30]

Mushrooms produce large amounts of vitamin D when exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light. [31] Penicillin, ciclosporin, griseofulvin, cephalosporin and psilocybin are examples of drugs that have been isolated from molds or other fungi. [32] [33]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christiaan Hendrik Persoon</span> German mycologist (1761–1836)

Christiaan Hendrik Persoon was a South African mycologist who made additions to Linnaeus' mushroom taxonomy.

<i>Lactarius deliciosus</i> Species of fungus

Lactarius deliciosus, commonly known as the delicious milk cap, saffron milk cap and red pine mushroom, is one of the best known members of the large milk-cap genus Lactarius in the order Russulales. It is native to Europe, but has been accidentally introduced to other countries along with pine trees, with which the fungus is symbiotic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pier Andrea Saccardo</span> Italian botanist and mycologist (1845–1920)

Pier Andrea Saccardo was an Italian botanist and mycologist. He was also the author of a color classification system that he called Chromotaxia. He was elected to the Linnean Society in 1916 as a foreign member. His multi-volume Sylloge Fungorum was one of the first attempts to produce a comprehensive treatise on the fungi which made use of the spore-bearing structures for classification.

<i>Agaricus campestris</i> Species of fungus

Agaricus campestris is a widely eaten gilled mushroom closely related to the cultivated A. bisporus. A. campestris is commonly known as the field mushroom or, in North America, meadow mushroom.

<i>Gyrodon lividus</i> Species of fungus

Gyrodon lividus, commonly known as the alder bolete, is a pored mushroom bearing close affinity to the genus Paxillus. Although found predominantly in Europe, where it grows in a mycorrhizal association with alder, it has also recorded from China, Japan and California. Fruit bodies are distinguished from other boletes by decurrent bright yellow pores that turn blue-grey on bruising. G. lividus mushrooms are edible.

<i>Clathrus ruber</i> Species of fungus in the stinkhorn family

Clathrus ruber is a species of fungus in the family Phallaceae, and the type species of the genus Clathrus. It is commonly known as the latticed stinkhorn, the basket stinkhorn, or the red cage, alluding to the striking fruit bodies that are shaped somewhat like a round or oval hollow sphere with interlaced or latticed branches. The fungus is saprobic, feeding off decaying woody plant material, and is often found alone or in groups in leaf litter on garden soil, grassy places, or on woodchip garden mulches. Although considered primarily a European species, C. ruber has been introduced to other areas, and now has a wide distribution that includes all continents except Antarctica. The species was illustrated in the scientific literature during the 16th century, but was not officially described until 1729.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Worthington George Smith</span> British botanist (1835–1917)

Worthington George Smith was an English cartoonist and illustrator, archaeologist, plant pathologist, and mycologist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Leigh Williamson Eyre</span> British mycologist (1841–1914)

Reverend William Leigh Williamson Eyre was an English mycologist and naturalist.

Paul Sydow was a German mycologist and lichenologist, father of Hans Sydow (1879–1946).

<i>Leucocoprinus fragilissimus</i> Species of fungus

Leucocoprinus fragilissimus, commonly known as the fragile dapperling, is a species of gilled mushroom in the family Agaricaceae.

Aurel Dermek was a Slovak mycologist, writer, photographer and illustrator.

<i>Amanita ananiceps</i> Species of fungus

Amanita ananiceps is a species of agaric fungus in the family Amanitaceae native to Australia.

<i>Leucocoprinus cretaceus</i> Species of fungus

Leucocoprinus cretaceus is a species of mushroom producing fungus in the family Agaricaceae. It is likely tropical in origin although it was first documented in Europe where it was often found growing in greenhouses and bark beds. However many early observations conflate this species with Leucocoprinus birnbaumii or Leucocoprinus cepistipes despite sharing only some superficial similarities. This fungus is quite versatile even for a saprotroph and is often found growing in clusters on woodchips, sawdust and compost heaps as well as directly from the ground or on trees. It may also appear in plant pots and greenhouses in colder countries in which it is not well equipped to survive outside.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to fungi and mycology:

<i>Rhizomorpha</i> Genus of fungi

Rhizomorpha is a genus of fungi that was created for species known only by their mycelial cords ("rhizomorphs") and so impossible to classify within the normal taxonomic system, which is based on reproductive structures.

<i>Leucocoprinus ianthinus</i> Species of fungus

Leucocoprinus ianthinus is a species of mushroom producing fungus in the family Agaricaceae. Like several other Leucocoprinus species it may have originated in a tropical climate but now finds a home in plant pots, greenhouses and compost piles in many countries. It is not seen in plant pots with the same kind of regularity as the well known Leucocoprinus birnbaumii and not seen in the wild as frequently as Leucocoprinus brebissonii.

Leucocoprinus straminellus is a species of mushroom producing fungus in the family Agaricaceae. Like other Leucocoprinus species it may have originated in a tropical climate but now finds a home in plant pots, greenhouses and compost piles in many countries. Leucocoprinus straminellus is described as being similar to the more commonly known Leucocoprinus birnbaumii but it is smaller and a lighter shade of yellow with smaller spores that lack a germ pore. It is also described as being superficially similar to Leucocoprinus fragilissimus but slightly more robust with flesh that is less translucent.

Leucocoprinus biornatus is a species of mushroom producing fungus in the family Agaricaceae.

Leucocoprinus holospilotus is a species of mushroom producing fungus in the family Agaricaceae.

Leucocoprinus russoceps is a species of mushroom producing fungus in the family Agaricaceae.

References

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Cited literature