Fungi Biology and Applications

Fungal physiology refers to the nutrition, metabolism, growth, reproduction, and death of fungal cells. It also generally relates to interaction of fungi with their biotic and abiotic surroundings, including cellular responses to environmental stress. The physiology of fungal cells impacts significantly on the environment, industrial processes, and human health. In relation to ecological aspects, the biogeochemical cycling of carbon in nature would not be possible without the participation of fungi acting as primary decomposers of organic material. Furthermore, in agricultural operations fungi play important roles as mutualistic symbionts, pathogens, and saprophytes, where they mobilize nutrients and affect the physicochemical environment, or can be exploited as agents of biocontrol or as biofertilizers. Fungal metabolism is also responsible for the detoxification of organic pollutants and for bioremediating heavy metals and other recalcitrant chemicals in the environment (including wastewaters and groundwaters). The production of many economically important industrial commodities relies on the exploitation of yeast and fungal metabolism and these include such diverse products as whole foods, food additives, fermented beverages, antibiotics, probiotics, pigments, pharmaceuticals, biofuels, enzymes, vitamins, organic and fatty acids, and sterols. More negatively, fungi can cause considerable disease, spoilage, and decay of important artefacts, commodities, and materials, buildings, and of course food supplies.