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Of economic importance is Physoderma maydis, a parasite of maize and the causal agent of brown spot disease. [5] Also of importance are the species of Urophlyctis that parasitize alfalfa . [ 8 ] However, ecologically, Physoderma are important parasites of many aquatic and marsh angiosperms . [ 4 ]
Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells shown with DIC microscopy The human use of fungi for food preparation or preservation and other purposes is extensive and has a long history. Mushroom farming and mushroom gathering are large industries in many countries. The study of the historical uses and sociological impact of fungi is known as ethnomycology.
An important ecosystem function associated with biodiversity is pest control. [23] Control species can suppress pest populations and reduce loss of crop yields without the negative impacts of chemical pesticides. [24] This has economic benefits and maintaining natural pest control is important to humanity's ability to grow crops. [25]
Sclerotia are important in the understanding of the life cycle and reproduction of fungi, as a food source, as medicine (for example, ergotamine), and in agricultural blight management. Examples of fungi that form sclerotia are ergot ( Claviceps purpurea ), Polyporus tuberaster , Psilocybe mexicana , Agroathelia delphinii and many species in ...
Those of economic importance include several important pathogens of trees and a few species that cause damage by rotting structural timber. Some of the Polyporales are commercially cultivated and marketed for use as food items or in traditional Chinese medicine .
Fungi have appeared, too, from time to time, in literature and art. Fungi create harm by spoiling food, destroying timber, and by causing diseases of crops, livestock, and humans. Fungi, mainly moulds like Penicillium and Aspergillus, spoil many stored foods. Fungi cause the majority of plant diseases, which in turn cause serious economic losses.
The order is composed of corticioid fungi. Species within the order are generally saprotrophic, most of them wood-rotters, but several are parasitic on grasses or lichens. Plant pathogens of economic importance include Erythricium salmonicolor, Laetisaria fuciformis, Waitea circinata, Waitea oryzae, and Waitea zeae.
A fraction of the many fungi consumed by humans are currently cultivated and sold commercially. Commercial cultivation is important ecologically, as there have been concerns of the depletion of larger fungi such as chanterelles in Europe, possibly because the group has grown popular, yet remains a challenge to cultivate.