Mycology

Mycology is a branch of natural science involved in studies related to fungi, their structure, genetic composition, biochemical properties, taxonomy, and their applications.

• Fungi are eukaryotic microorganisms that occur as yeasts, molds, or as a combination of both forms. The characteristic features of fungi include the chitinous cell walls, plasma membranes containing ergosterol, 80S rRNA, and microtubules composed of tubulin. 
• Mycology has become an important area of research in clinical microbiology as of the approximately 70,000 recognized species of fungi, about 300 are known to cause human infections. Some might even have economic importance as plant and animal pathogens.
• Fungal diseases of healthy humans tend to be relatively benign, but the few life-threatening fungal diseases are critical. 
• Mycology is further separated as phytopathology as many fungi are known to cause plant diseases.
• Mycology was traditionally considered a branch of botany even though it has been observed that fungi are evolutionary more closer to animals than plants.
• Over the years, based on new researches, mycology is now established as a distinct discipline.
• Fungi have been a topic of interest due to their role in the environment as decomposers with some fungi being consumed as a source of food and antibiotics.
• Mycological studies led to the discovery of penicillin as the first antibiotic, which led the way for the production of more antibiotics.
• Many fungi like bacteria might even exist in a symbiotic relationship with other living beings in the form of the normal flora.
• With the emergence of new fungal species causing diseases in different living beings, the focus of mycology has been shifted towards the systemic classification and identification of fungi based on various techniques.
• Fungi are comparatively harder to isolate and identify in laboratories than in bacteria; however, other molecular techniques like gene sequence analysis and PCR have made it possible to identify fungal species accurately.
• Besides, fungi are mostly associated with skin or tissue-related infections. These infections can range from mild to severe depending on the pathogenic nature of the species.
• Mycology thus is closely related to other areas like clinical medicine and pathology.
• Some fungi have found applications in food and beverage industries where fungi like yeasts are used for baking and brewing process.
• The industrial application of fungi gives rise to the relationship between mycology and biotechnology.