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Importance to Humans

6 April, 2016 - 17:26

Although we often think of fungi as organisms that cause diseases and rot food, fungi are important to human life on many levels. As we have seen, they influence the well-being of human populations on a large scale because they help nutrients cycle in ecosystems. They have other ecosystem roles as well. For example, as animal pathogens, fungi help to control the population of damaging pests. These fungi are very specific to the insects they attack and do not infect other animals or plants. The potential to use fungi as microbial insecticides is being investigated, with several species already on the market. For example, the fungus Beauveria bassianais a pesticide that is currently being tested as a possible biological control for the recent spread of emerald ash borer. It has been released in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, and Maryland.

The mycorrhizal relationship between fungi and plant roots is essential for the productivity of farmland. Without the fungal partner in the root systems, 80–90% of trees and grasses would not survive. Mycorrhizal fungal inoculants are available as soil amendments from gardening supply stores and promoted by supporters of organic agriculture.

We also eat some types of fungi. Mushrooms figure prominently in the human diet. Morels, shiitake mushrooms, chanterelles, and truffles are considered delicacies (Figure 13.27). The humble meadow mushroom, Agaricus campestris, appears in many dishes. Molds of the genus Penicillium ripen many cheeses. They originate in the natural environment such as the caves of Roquefort, France, where wheels of sheep milk cheese are stacked to capture the molds responsible for the blue veins and pungent taste of the cheese.

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Figure 13.27  
The morel mushroom is an ascomycete that is much appreciated for its delicate taste. (credit: Jason Hollinger)

Fermentation—of grains to produce beer, and of fruits to produce wine—is an ancient art that humans in most cultures have practiced for millennia. Wild yeasts are acquired from the environment and used to ferment sugars into CO2 and ethyl alcohol under anaerobic conditions. It is now possible to purchase isolated strains of wild yeasts from different wine-making regions. Pasteur was instrumental in developing a reliable strain of brewer’s yeast, Saccharomy cescerevisiae, for the French brewing industry in the late 1850s. It was one of the first examples of biotechnology patenting. Yeast is also used to make breads that rise. The carbon dioxide they produce is responsible for the bubbles produced in the dough that become the air pockets of the baked bread.

Many secondary metabolites of fungi are of great commercial importance. Antibiotics are naturally produced by fungi to kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria, and limit competition in the natural environment. Valuable drugs isolated from fungi include the immunosuppressant drug cyclosporine (which reduces the risk of rejection after organ transplant), the precursors of steroid hormones, and ergot alkaloids used to stop bleeding. In addition, as easily cultured eukaryotic organisms, some fungi are important model research organisms including the red bread mold Neurospora crassa and the yeast, S. cerevisiae.