Chapter 25.7, Problem 2CC

Summary Introduction

Fungi are eukaryotic, spore-bearing organisms. They lack chlorophyll and have both sexual and asexual reproductive systems. The study of fungi is known as mycology and the study of fungal toxins is known as mycotoxicology. In animals, diseases caused by fungi are called mycoses. There are numerous groups of organisms are classified under fungi, nearly 90,000 fungal species are described. Fungi are defined as eukaryotic terrestrial organisms. They have distributed from polar to nonpolar part in the world. They are saprophytes, obtain nutrients from various dead organic materials by releasing degradative enzymes into their surroundings.