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The Importance of Fungi
Fungi are one of the most important groups of organisms on
the planet. This is easy to overlook, given their largely
hidden, unseen actions and growth. They are important in an
enormous variety of ways.
* Recycling
Fungi, together with bacteria, are responsible for
most of the recycling which returns dead material to the
soil in a form in which it can be reused. Without fungi,
these recycling activities would be seriously reduced. We
would effectively be lost under piles many metres thick, of
dead plant and animal remains.
* Mycorrhizae and plant growth
Fungi are vitally important for the good growth of
most plants, including crops, through the development of
mycorrhizal associations. As plants are at the base of most
food chains, if their growth was limited, all animal life,
including human, would be seriously reduced through starvation.
* Food
Fungi are also important directly as food for humans.
Many mushrooms are edible and different species are
cultivated for sale worldwide. While this is a very small
proportion of the actual food that we eat, fungi are also
widely used in the production of many foods and drinks.
These include cheeses, beer and wine, bread, some cakes, and
some soya bean products.
While a great many wild fungi are edible, it can be
difficult to correctly identify them. Some mushrooms are
deadly if they are eaten. Fungi with names such as
'Destroying Angel' and 'Death Cap' give us some indication
that it would not be a terribly good idea to eat them! In
some countries, collecting wild mushrooms to eat is a
popular activity. It is always wise to be totally sure that
what you have collected is edible and not a poisonous
look-a-like.
* Medicines
Penicillin, perhaps the most famous of all antibiotic
drugs, is derived from a common fungus called Penicillium.
Many other fungi also produce antibiotic substances, which
are now widely used to control diseases in human and animal
populations. The discovery of antibiotics revolutionized
health care worldwide.
Some fungi which parasitise caterpillars have also
been traditionally used as medicines. The Chinese have used
a particular caterpillar fungus as a tonic for hundreds of
years. Certain chemical compounds isolated from the fungus
may prove to be useful treatments for certain types of cancer.
A fungus which parasitises Rye crops causes a disease
known as Ergot. The fungus can occur on a variety of
grasses. It produces small hard structures, known as
sclerotia. These sclerotia can cause poisoning in humans and
animals which have eaten infected material. However, these
same sclerotia are also the source of a powerful and
important drug which has uses in childbirth.
*
Fungi such as the Chinese caterpillar fungus, which
parasitise insects, can be extremely useful for controlling
insect pests of crops. The spores of the fungi are sprayed
on the crop pests. Fungi have been used to control Colorado
potato beetles, which can devastate potato crops.
Spittlebugs, leaf hoppers and citrus rust mites are some of
the other insect pests which have been controlled using
fungi. This method is generally cheaper and less damaging to
the environment than using chemical pesticides.
* Crop Diseases
Fungal parasites may be useful in biocontrol, but they
can also have enormous negative consequences for crop
production. Some fungi are parasites of plants. Most of our
common crop plants are susceptible to fungal attack of one
kind or another. Spore production and dispersal is
enormously efficient in fungi and plants of the same species
crowded together in fields are ripe for attack. Fungal
diseases can on occasion result in the loss of entire crops
if they are not treated with antifungal agents.
* Animal Disease
Fungi can also parasitise domestic animals causing
diseases, but this is not usually a major economic problem.
A wide range of fungi also live on and in humans, but most
coexist harmlessly. Athletes foot and Candida infections are
examples of human fungal infections.
* Food Spoilage
It has already been noted that fungi play a major role
in recycling organic material. The fungi which make our
bread and jam go mouldy are only recycling organic matter,
even though in this case, we would prefer that it didn't
happen! Fungal damage can be responsible for large losses of
stored food, particularly food which contains any moisture.
Dry grains can usually be stored successfully, but the
minute they become damp, moulds are likely to render them
inedible. This is obviously a problem where large quantities
of food are being produced seasonally and then require
storage until they are needed
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