Mycology

Mycology is the branch of biology

concerned with the study of fungi,
including their genetic and biochemical
properties, their taxonomy and their use to
humans as a source for tinder, traditional
medicine, food, and entheogens, as well as
their dangers, such as toxicity or infection.
Mushrooms are considered a kind of fungal
reproductive organ.

A biologist specializing in mycology is

called a mycologist.

Mycology branches into the field of

phytopathology, the study of plant
diseases, and the two disciplines remain
closely related because the vast majority
of plant pathogens are fungi.
Overview
Historically, mycology was a branch of
botany because, although fungi are
evolutionarily more closely related to
animals than to plants,[1] this was not
recognized until a few decades ago.[2]
Pioneer mycologists included Elias
Magnus Fries, Christian Hendrik Persoon,
Anton de Bary, Elizabeth Eaton Morse, and
Lewis David von Schweinitz.

Many fungi produce toxins, antibiotics, and

other secondary metabolites. For example,
the cosmopolitan (worldwide) genus
Fusarium and their toxins associated with
fatal outbreaks of alimentary toxic aleukia
in humans were extensively studied by
Abraham Joffe.

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 (such as
histoplasmosis) as well as plants (such as
Dutch elm disease and rice blast).

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
considered as one of the most important
biological control agents as an alternative
to chemical based products for effective
crop diseases management.[3]

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].[4]

Some fungi can cause disease in humans

and other animals - The study of
pathogenic fungi that infect animals is
referred to as medical mycology.[5]

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 Naturalis historia. The word
mycology comes from the Ancient Greek:
μύκης (mukēs), meaning "fungus" and the
suffix -λογία (-logia), meaning "study".[6]
The Middle Ages saw
little advancement in Fungi and
the body of knowledge truffles are
about fungi. However, neither
the invention of the herbs, nor
printing press allowed roots, nor
authors to dispel flowers, nor
superstitions and
seeds, but
misconceptions about
merely the
the fungi that had been
superfluous
perpetuated by the
classical authors.[8]
moisture or
earth, of
The start of the trees, or
modern age of
rotten
mycology begins with
wood, and
Pier Antonio Micheli's of other
1737 publication of rotting
Nova plantarum
things. This
genera.[9] Published in
is plain
Florence, this seminal
from the
work laid the
fact that all
foundations for the
systematic fungi and
classification of truffles,
grasses, mosses and especially
fungi. He originated the those that
still current genus are used for
names Polyporus P. eating,
Micheli[10] and Tuber P.
grow most
Micheli,[11] both dated
commonly
1729 (though the
descriptions were later in thundery
amended as invalid by and wet
modern rules). Note weather.
that when referring to
the scientific name of a — 
genus, the author Jerome
abbreviation can Bock
optionally be added (Hierony
afterwards. mus
Tragus),
The founding
1552[7]
nomenclaturist Carl
Linnaeus included
fungi in his "binomial" naming system of
1753, where each type of organism has a
two-word name consisting of the "genus"
and the "species" (whereas up to then
organisms were often designated with
Latin phrases containing many words).[12]
He originated the scientific names, still
used today, of numerous well-known
mushroom taxa, such as Boletus L.[13] and
Agaricus L..[14] At that period fungi were
considered to belong to the plant kingdom,
and so they find their place in his magnum
opus Species Plantarum, but he was much
more interested in higher plants and for
instance he grouped together as genus
Agaricus all gilled mushrooms which have
a stem.[15][16] There are many thousands
of such gilled species, which later were
divided into dozens of diverse genera and
in its modern usage the genus Agaricus
only refers to mushrooms closely related
to the common shop mushroom, Agaricus
bisporus (J.E. Lange) Imbach.[17] As an
example, Linnaeus gave the name
Agaricus deliciosus to the saffron milk-cap,
but its current name is Lactarius deliciosus
(L.) Gray.[18] On the other hand the field
mushroom Agaricus campestris L. has
kept the same name ever since Linnaeus's
publication.[19] The English word "agaric" is
still used for any gilled mushroom, which
corresponds to Linnaeus's sense of the
word.[17]
The term mycology and the
complementary term mycologist were first
used in 1836 by M.J. Berkeley.[20]

Mycology and drug discovery

For centuries, certain mushrooms have
been documented as a folk medicine in
China, Japan, and Russia.[21] 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.[22]
Mushrooms produce large amounts of
vitamin D when exposed to ultraviolet (UV)
light.[23] Penicillin, ciclosporin, griseofulvin,
cephalosporin and psilocybin are
examples of drugs that have been isolated
from molds or other fungi.

See also
Ethnomycology
Fungal biochemical test
List of mycologists
List of mycology journals
Marine fungi
Mushroom hunting
 Mycotoxicology
Pathogenic fungi
Protistology

References
1. Hecht, Jeff. "Science: Animals and
fungi closer than anyone expected" .
New Scientist. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
2. Woese, Carl R.; Kandler, O; Wheelis, M
(1990). "Towards a natural system of
organisms: proposal for the domains
Archaea, Bacteria, and Eucarya" . Proc
Natl Acad Sci USA. 87 (12): 4576–9.
Bibcode:1990PNAS...87.4576W .
doi:10.1073/pnas.87.12.4576 .
PMC 54159 . PMID 2112744 .
3. Ruano-Rosa, David; Prieto, Pilar;
Rincón, Ana María; Gómez-Rodríguez,
María Victoria; Valderrama, Raquel;
Barroso, Juan Bautista; Mercado-
Blanco, Jesús (2015-11-07). "Fate of
Trichoderma harzianum in the olive
rhizosphere: time course of the root
colonization process and interaction
with the fungal pathogen Verticillium
dahliae" (PDF). BioControl. 61 (3):
269–282. doi:10.1007/s10526-015-
9706-z . hdl:10261/157852 .
ISSN 1386-6141 . S2CID 12336349 .
4. Anon (1868). "A foray among the
funguses" . Transactions of the
Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club.
Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club.
1868: 184–192.
5. San-Blas G; Calderone RA, eds. (2008).
Pathogenic Fungi . Caister Academic
Press. ISBN 978-1-904455-32-5.
. HENRY (M.D.), Alexander (1861). A
Glossary of Scientific Terms for
general use . p. 131.
 7. De stirpium maxime earum quae in
Germania nostra nascuntur, usitatis
nomenclaturis. Strasbourg. In
Ainsworth, p. 13, quoting Buller, AHR.
(1915). Micheli and the discovery of
reproduction in fungi. Transactions of
the royal Society of Canada, series 3 9:
1–25.
. Ainsworth, p. 13.
9. Ainsworth, p. 4.
10. "the Polyporus P. Micheli page" . Index
Fungorum. Royal Botanic Gardens
Kew. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
11. "the Tuber P. Micheli page" . Index
Fungorum. Royal Botanic Gardens
Kew. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
12. Kibby, Geoffrey (2017). Mushrooms
and Toadstools of Britain & Europe.
Great Britain: Geoffrey Kibby. pp. xiv–
xv. ISBN 9780957209428.
13. "the Boletus L. page" . Index
Fungorum. Royal Botanic Gardens
Kew. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
14. "the Agaricus L. page" . Index
Fungorum. Royal Botanic Gardens
Kew. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
15. Robert W. Kiger. "Index to Binomials
Cited in the First Edition of Linnaeus'
Species Plantarum" . Hunt Institute for
Botanical Documentation. Archived
from the original on 2018-07-12.
Retrieved 2018-07-12. Searching on
the names Agaricus or Boletus, for
instance, finds many mushroom
species described by Linnaeus under
those genera.
1 . Linnaeus, Carl (1753). Species
Plantarum: exhibentes plantas rite
cognitas, ad genera relatas, cum
differentiis specificis, nominibus
trivialibus, synonymis selectis, locis
natalibus, secundum systema sexuale
digestas (in Latin) (1st ed.).
Stockholm: Impensis Laurentii Salvii.
The entries for fungi start with
Agaricus on page 1171 of volume 2.
17. Læssøe, H.; Petersen, Jens (2019).
Fungi of Temperate Europe. Princeton
University Press. p. 500.
ISBN 9780691180373. Page 8 defines
the word "agaric" and page 500 gives
the modern definition of Agaricus.
1 . "the Agaricus deliciosus L. page" .
Species Fungorum. Royal Botanic
Gardens Kew. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
19. "the Agaricus campestris L. page" .
Species Fungorum. Royal Botanic
Gardens Kew. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
20. Ainsworth, p. 2.
21. Smith JE, Rowan NJ, Sullivan R (May
2002). "Medicinal Mushrooms: Their
therapeutic properties and current
medical usage with special emphasis
on cancer treatments" . Cancer
Research UK. p. 5. Archived from the
original on 2009-08-31.
 22. Shashkina MIa; Shashkin PN; Sergeev
AV (October 2006). "[Chemical and
medicobiological properties of Chaga
(review)]" . Farmatsevtychnyĭ Zhurnal.
40 (10): 560–568.
doi:10.1007/s11094-006-0194-4 .
S2CID 22139534 .
23. Bowerman, Susan (March 31, 2008), "If
mushrooms see the light" , The Los
Angeles Times

Cited literature …

Geoffrey Clough Ainsworth (1976).

Introduction to the History of Mycology .
Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-
0-521-21013-3.
External links
Professional organizations
BMS: British Mycological Society
(United Kingdom)
MSA: Mycological Society of
America (North America)
Amateur organizations
MSSF: Mycological Society of San
Francisco
North American Mycological
Association (list of amateur
organizations in North America)
Puget Sound Mycological Society
Oregon Mycological Society
 IMA Illinois Mycological
Association
Miscellaneous links
Online lectures in mycology
University of South Carolina
The WWW Virtual Library:
Mycology
MykoWeb links page
Mycological Glossary at the Illinois
Mycological Association
FUNGI Magazine for professionals
and amateurs - largest circulating
U.S. publication concerning all
things mycological]
 Fungal Cell Biology Group at
University of Edinburgh, UK.
Mycological Marvels Cornell
University, Mann Library

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