Recent advances in MOLECULAR BIOLOGY have stimulated a renewed
interest in fungal classification. Although these studies are
not yet complete, there is some consensus; the kingdom Fungi
contains 3 major divisions: Chytridiomycota, Zygomycota and
Dikaryomycota. Chytridiomycota are largely aquatic or
semiaquatic and usually have swimming stages in their life
cycles. Zygomycota are nonmotile, mostly terrestrial and have
relatively simple life cycles lacking extended diploid or
dikaryotic stages. Dikaryomycota are nonmotile, mostly
terrestrial and usually have extended diploid (paired
chromosomes) or dikaryotic stages (paired nuclei chromosomes) in
their life cycles. The great majority of fungi belong to either
Ascomycotina or Basidiomycotina, subdivisions of Dikaryomycota.
Mineral nutrition of fungi can resemble that of plants, whereby
all necessary minerals (nitrogen, phosphorus, sulphur, iron,
etc), can be assimilated in simple inorganic forms. On the other
hand, most fungi can also assimilate minerals combine