question_answer 39)

  Fungi are cosmopolitan, write the role of fungi in your daily life. Discuss the role of fungi, with respect to its economical importance to humans.

Answer:

                  Role of Fungi Fungi are cosmopolitan in occurrance being present in air, water, soil over and inside animals and plants. The branch of biology dealing with the study of fungi is known as Mycology. (i) Few fungi are used as nutritious and delicious food. e.g., Agaricus compestris (ii) Saprophytic fungi lives upon dead organic matter and breaks complex substances into simple ones, that are absorbed by plants as nutrients. (iii) Some fungi like Absidia, mucor and Rhizopus possess soil binding properties and make the soil good for cultivation. (iv) They also provide pest resistance , e.g., Empusa, Ferinosa, etc. (v) Yeast (Saccharomyces) has the property of fermentation, thus used in alcohol and dough preparation.