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Yeasts have been used since ancient times to leaven bread and to ferment beer and wine. [2] More recently, fungi have been used for a wide variety of industrial fermentations, whether working directly for their effects on materials such as processing paper pulp or bioremediating industrial waste, or serving as the source of enzymes for many purposes, such as fading and softening denim for ...
Fungi are everywhere, but only some cause disease. [13] Fungal infection occurs after spores are either breathed in, come into contact with skin or enter the body through the skin such as via a cut, wound or injection. [3] It is more likely to occur in people with a weak immune system. [14]
However, it is believed that mammals pose a higher threat to mushrooms than fungivores, as larger body sizes mean they are more capable of eating an entire fungus in one sitting. [33] Some phenotypes, or observable characteristics, may co-occur with toxicity, and therefore act as a warning signal.
Some of the health effects found in animals and humans include death, identifiable diseases or health problems, weakened immune systems without specificity to a toxin, and as allergens or irritants. Some mycotoxins are harmful to other micro-organisms such as other fungi or even bacteria; penicillin is one example. [ 46 ]
Depending on habitat and the amount ingested per body weight, effects can range from mild nausea and twitching to drowsiness, cholinergic crisis-like effects (low blood pressure, sweating and salivation), auditory and visual distortions, mood changes, euphoria, relaxation, ataxia, and loss of equilibrium (like with tetanus.) [54] [55] [58] [60]
Numerous fungi have well-documented psychotropic effects, some of them severe and associated with acute and life-threatening side-effects. [21] Among these is Amanita muscaria, the fly agaric. More widely used informally are a range of fungi collectively known as "magic mushrooms", which contain psilocybin and psilocin. [21]
Pathogenic fungi are fungi that cause disease in humans or other organisms. Although fungi are eukaryotic , many pathogenic fungi are microorganisms . [ 1 ] Approximately 300 fungi are known to be pathogenic to humans; [ 2 ] their study is called " medical mycology ".
Ergotism (pron. / ˈ ɜːr ɡ ə t ˌ ɪ z ə m / UR-gət-iz-əm) is the effect of long-term ergot poisoning, traditionally due to the ingestion of the alkaloids produced by the Claviceps purpurea fungus—from the Latin clava "club" or clavus "nail" and -ceps for "head", i.e. the purple club-headed fungus—that infects rye and other cereals, and more recently by the action of a number of ...