Fungi (Singular: fungus) are classified within their own
kingdom - The Kingdom Fungi, while some are in The Kingdom Protista. A fungus
is neither a plant nor an animal. It is similar to a plant, but it has no
chlorophyll and cannot make its own food like a plant can through
photosynthesis. They get their food by absorbing nutrients from their
surroundings. Kingdom Fungi includes mushrooms, rusts, smuts, puffballs, truffles, morels, molds, and yeasts, and thousands of other organisms and microorganisms. They range from microscopic single-celled organisms, such as yeast, to gigantic multicellular organisms.
Many fungi play a crucial role in decomposition (breaking things down) and
returning nutrients to the soil. They are also used in medicine, an example is
the antibiotic penicillin, as well as in industry and food preparation.
Mycology is the study of fungi - it is a branch of biology. A mycologist
studies fungi's genes, biochemical properties, their use to us as a source of
food, their hallucinogenic, poisonous and pathogenic (ability to cause disease)
properties.
The “1000 Fungal Genomes” project will involve reading the DNA code of the
genomes – inherited genetic information – of two species from every known
family of fungi. There are an estimated one to 1.5 million species of fungi, with only about
100,000 species named. Approximately 200 of the 1,000 species that will be sequenced during the
project are located at the Northern Research Station’s Center for Forest
Mycology Research in Madison, Wisconsin. Scientists began the collection in
1932 and it now includes cultures from 1,600 species of fungi.
“It’s an incredible resource,” said Dan Lindner, a plant pathologist at the
research center. “As far as we know, it’s the world’s largest collection of
wood-inhabiting fungi. These organisms are so important in so many ways, and we
have so much to learn about them.” Fungi are important to everything from carbon cycling to production of
life-saving drugs such as penicillin, cholesterol-lowering statins, and
immunosuppressants, which make organ transplants possible. Fungi are also used
to make chocolate, beer and specialty cheeses, such as brie and gorgonzola.
Examples
Panellus stipticus, one of over 70
species of bioluminescent fungi
The biochemistry of
fungal bioluminescence - two-stage mechanism - In
the first, a light-emitting substance (arbitrarily called "luciferin")
is reduced by a soluble reductase enzyme at the expense of NAD(P)H. In the
second stage, reduced luciferin is oxidized by an insoluble luciferase that
releases the energy in the form of bluish-green light.
Mold is
significant because it recycles nutrients from decaying organisms. Certain
drugs, name penicillin, have also been created from molds and also citric acid
and riboflavin.
