gluconic acid – Aspergillus niger , Itaconic acid – Aspergillus terreus , Kojic acid – Aspergillus oryzae. Bakery and Brewery Yeast( Saccharomyces cerevisiae ) is used for Aspergillus , Rhizopus, Mucor and Penicilium are involved in spoilage of food materials. Aspergillus flavus infest dried foods and produce carcinogenic toxin called aflatoxin. Patulin, ochratoxin A are some of the toxins produced by fungi.Fungi cause diseases in Human beings and plants (Table .
). Activity . Get a button mushroom. Draw diagram of the fruit body.
Take a thin longitudinal section passing through the gill and observe the section under a microscope. Record your observations. Dermatophytes are fungi which cause infection in skin. Example: Trichophyton , Tinea , Microsporum and Epidermophyton The late blight disease of Potato by Phytophthora infestans caused a million deaths, and drove more to emigrate from Ireland ( - ) .
In India Helminthosporium oryzae, Blight of Paddy is also a factor for Bengal famine in - . fermentation of sugars to yield alcohol.Bakeries utilize yeast for the production of Bakery products like Bread, buns, rolls etc., Penicillium roquefortii and Penicillium camemberti were employed in cheese production. Production of enzymes Aspergillus oryzae , Aspergillus niger were employed in the production of enzymes like amylase, protease, lactase etc. Rennet which helps in the coagulation of milk in cheese manufacturing is derived from Mucor spp.
Agriculture Mycorrhiza forming fungi like Rhizoctonia, Phallus , Scleroderma helps in absorption of water and minerals. Fungi like Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae are used as Biopesticides to eradicate the pests of crops. Gibberellin, produced by a fungus Gibberella fujikuroi induce the plant growth and is used as growth promoter. Harmful activities Fungi like Amanita phalloides , Amanita verna , Boletus satanus are highly poisonous due to the production of Toxins.
These fungi are commonly referred as “Toad stools” . Table . : Diseases caused by fungi Name of the disease Causal organism Plant diseases Blast of Paddy Magnaporthe grisea Red rot of sugarcane Colletotrichum falcatum Anthracnose of Beans Colletotrichum lindemuthianum White rust of crucifers Albugo candida Peach leaf curl Taphrina deformans Rust of wheat