Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
2.3.1.2 Fungi
Fungi are primarily heterotrophic decomposer organisms although it is clear that they
have a more diverse metabolic capacity than generally recognised and may mediate a
range of chemical transformations in soil (Wainwright, 1988). Many species are
pathogenic on the tissues of higher plants while others form symbiotic mycorrhizal asso-
ciations with their roots. Because of their importance to the growth of their host plants,
the fungi involved and the associations that they form, mycorrhizal fungi are considered
in more detail in Section IV.3.1.
Saprophytic fungi derive their carbon and energy requirements largely from the prod-
ucts of cellulolysis, cell wall materials, cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. White-rot
Basidiomycota and some other fungi are among the few organisms able to degrade lignin
and the brown phenol-protein complexes of leaf and root litter. They are much less
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