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Fungi appear to have had the chance to flourish due to the extinction of most plant and animal species, and the resultant fungal bloom has been described as like "a massive compost heap". [38] The lack of K-T extinction in fungal evolution is also supported by molecular data.
The English word fungus is directly adopted from the Latin fungus (mushroom), used in the writings of Horace and Pliny. [10] This in turn is derived from the Greek word sphongos (σφόγγος 'sponge'), which refers to the macroscopic structures and morphology of mushrooms and molds; [11] the root is also used in other languages, such as the German Schwamm ('sponge') and Schimmel ('mold').
In biology, evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organization , from kingdoms to species , and individual organisms and molecules , such as DNA and proteins .
Mycorrhizal relationships between plant and fungi are mutualistic: the fungus gains a carbon source, while the plant receives nutrient minerals. Discovery of fungi in the Early Devonian Rhynie chert, when plants were root and leafless, suggests that fungi played a large role in the evolution of plant life into terrestrial ecosystems. [3]
The Fungi are classified as a kingdom that is separate from plants and animals. The discipline of biology devoted to the study of fungi is known as mycology or fungal biology, which is historically regarded as a branch of botany, even though genetic
Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their taxonomy, genetics, biochemical properties, and use by humans. [1] Fungi can be a source of tinder, food, traditional medicine, as well as entheogens, poison, and infection.
The comparison of fungal genomes has been used to study the evolution of fungi, to improve the resolution of the phylogeny of fungal species, and to determine the time of the emergence and changes in species traits and lifestyles, such as the evolution symbiotic or pathogenic interactions, and the evolution of different morphologies. [2]
Zoopagomycotina are microscopic and are typically obligate parasites of other zygomycete fungi and of microscopic soil animals such as nematodes, rotifers and amoebae. [3] Some species are endoparasites that live mostly within the bodies of their hosts and only exit the host when they are producing spores .