The branch of biology concerned with the study of the genetic and biochemical properties of fungi, their taxonomy, and their application as a source for food, tinder and medicine is known as mycology. Fungi are crucial to life on Earth due to their role as symbionts. Further, fungi can break complex biomolecules and pollutants and therefore are critical to the global carbon cycle. They are also the source of many drugs, such as penicillin, psilocybin, ciclosporin, etc. Mycology is closely related to the discipline of phytopathology, which studies plant disease. This book traces the progress of mycology and highlights some of its key applications. It will also provide interesting topics for research which interested readers can take up. Scientists and students actively engaged in this field will find this book full of crucial and unexplored concepts.
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