Fungi have both positive ad negative roles in our daily life. So they are our friends as well as foes (enemy).
They are described as below.
Beneficial Roles or Useful Activities.
i) Fungi are used as food. e.g. Mushrooms and Morels.
ii) Fungi are used in laboratory.
a) Baking Yeast (S. cerevisae)
b) Several alcoholic beverages such as wine, whiskey, beer, rum all are prepared by fermentation activity of sugar solution by wine yeast. (S. ellipsoidens) c) Some fungi are used in production of enzymes like amylase, pectimase
iii) Some fungi are used in production of several antibiotics and antibiotics and other useful medicine like penicillin, streptomycin, ergotine and ephedrine respectively.
iv) Several fungi are used in commercial production of different organic products like citric acid, fumaric, lactic and oxalic acid.
v) Fungi in agriculture:
a) Being saprophytes they decompose the organic matter and enhance the fertility of the soil.
b) Some fungi develop symbiotic relation with roots of higher plant like Pinus and help them in absorption of nutrients. Such fungi are known as mycorrhiza.
vi) Some fungi are used to produce hormone like Gibberellin.
Harmful Activities:
i) Food spoilage (destruction) caused by fungi like mucor and yeast.
ii) Some yeasts causes huge loss in silk industry to attack silk worms and kill the same.
iii) Several types of plant diseases caused by (different types of fungi) species of Nematospra they attack tomatoes, cotton and bean plants.
Similar disease like causal organisms
a. Stem rust of wheat – Pucvinia graministice
b. Early blight of potato – Alternaria solani
c. Late blight of potato – Phytiphtoria infestans
d. White rust of crucifer – Albugo candida
iv) Some fungi (Cryptococcus neoformans) may cause human disease like meningitis and brain tumor.
- Torula and other yeasts produce small nodules on the skin and lesions in the viscera and bones of man.
v) Some fungi are concerned with destruction of substances like attacks textile materials, paper, leather goods, rubber even optical instruments.
vi) Some fungi are not edible mushroom like different species Amanita.
This question has also been asked frequently in HSEB Board Exam as, Explain the economic importance of fungi, Fungi are our friends as well as enemies, Explain. etc.
5. Source of industrial chemicals, antibiotics, medicines and vitamins
• Role of fungi in Industry
# Alcoholic fermentation.
Eg: saccharomyces cerevisiae
12. # Mycorrhizae (mykes = fungus, rhiza= roots)
E.g: Ascomycetes of the genus Wilcoxina(mainly pinus)
:-mineral nutrient uptake from soil
# Genetical studies- Neurospora crassa, Physarum polycephalum
# Mapping of human chromasomes- Aspergillus nidulans
E.g: Aspergillus, Fusarium, Mucor, Penicillium, Rhizopus
and Trichoderma.
Mutualistic symbionts
Fungi as test organism
Bioremediation
13. Harmful activities:
Fungi cause diseases to human, animals and plants. They cause destruction
to clothes, paper, jute, leather, rubber, Paints, petroleum products, good
grains and other bakery products. Harmful effects are:
(1) Many fungi cause very much loss to our timber trees by causing wood
rot. Armillaria mellea, the honey mushroom causes red rot of apple and many
forest trees. Many species of Polypores attack forest trees causing wood rot.
(2) Some would fungi like Rhizopus, Mucor, Aspergillus spoil our food.
Their spores are always in the air and settle down on exposed jams, pickles,
jelly, bread and fruits and develop mycelia and make food articles unfit for
human use.
14. (3) Some parasitic fungi are causative agents of diseased of our cops, fruits
and other economic plants. In them fungi like Puccimia and ustilago cause rusts
and smuts. They are great enemies of crops and cause loss by reducing crop yield.
The rusts reproduce yellow, orange or black pustules on the stem and leaves of
cereal plants while smuts attack forests and produces a black powdery mass of
smut spores in the place of seed and fruits. Damage caused to cereals (wheat,
maize, oat and barley) by rust and smuts amounts to several hundred millions of
rupees annually. Fungi diseases in plants are:
(i) While rust of crucifers by crystopus cindidus.
(ii) Powdery mildew by Erisiphae species.
(iii) Fruit root of apple by Rhizopus arrhizus.
(iv) Late blight of Potato by Phytopora infestans.
(v) Red rot of sugar came by colletorichum falcatum.
(vi) Some parasitic fungi cause diseases to animals.
Saprolegnia which occurs as saprophyte on dead fish or flies behave as
facultative parasite producing serious diseases to crops and gold fishes.
15. (4) Some fungi are also cause some important diseases in human beings.
Asperigillus as A.miger, A.fiavus, A.fumigatus are common human pathogens. Disease
caused in aspergilloses of lungs and ears. Some parasitic fungi live in mucous
membrane of throad, bronchii and lungs. Few fungi cause skin discoloration. A well
known skin disease rung worm or “Dead” is also a fungus disease.
