TOPIC: BASICS OF MYCOLOGY

📌 KEY POINTS

🔹Mycology is the study of fungi.

🔹The cell wall of fungi possesses two characteristic cell structures: chitin and ergosterol.

🔹Fungi grow in two basic forms, as yeasts and molds. 

🔹Elongation of the cell produces a tubular, thread-like structure called hypha (septate or nonseptate).

🔹A tangled mass of hyphae constitutes the mycelium. 

🔹Fungi which form mycelia are called molds or filamentous fungi.

🔹In a growing colony of filamentous fungus, the mycelium can be divided into the vegetative mycelium and the aerial mycelium.

🔹The fungi are classified in the phylum Thallophyta. 

🔹The phylum consists of four classes of fungi: Zygomycetes, Ascomycetes, Basidiomycetes, and Deuteromycetes or Fungi Imperfecti.

🔹The fungi can also be classified as yeast, yeast-like fungi, molds and dimorphic fungi depending on their morphology.