HELLENIC  ASSOCIATION  DERMATOLOGY - VENEREOLOGY

MYCOLOGY  RESOURCES 2

Medical Mycology Research Center The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Texas, USA `` About Medical Mycology
Mycology is the branch of biology that deals with the study of fungi . Medical Mycology is a specialized area concerned with the study of fungi that are capable of causing disease in humans and animals. It has been  estimated that there are approximately 1.5 million species of fungi, of these there are approximately 400 speciesthat have proved to be agents of disease in humans and animals. The majority of the pathogenic species are     classified within the Kingdom Fungi, Phyla Zygomycota, Basidiomycota , Ascomycota and the form group Fungi Imperfecti. Fungi (singular = fungus) including those pathogenic to human and animals are eukaryotic microorganisms that can be conveniently separated into two basic groups, moulds and yeast. Moulds consist of those fungi that grow in a filamentous form, whereas yeast are characterized by solitary cells that reproduce by budding. Their nucleus like that of other eukaryotic organisms contains a nucleolus and several chromosomes that are bound by a nuclear membrane. Hyphal cells in septate hyphae may be uninucleate, binucleate, or multinucleate. For the most part, cellular and nuclear division are independent events, especially with respect to vegetative growth. As in other eukaryotic organisms, fungi have mitochondria, 80s ribosomes and centrioles. The cell wall of fungi consist of chitin, chitosan, glucan, mannan, other components in various combinations. Fungi are carbon heterotrophs, therefore they require preformed organic compounds as carbon sources. Fungi do notcontain chlorophyll. The actinomycetes are prokaryotic; gram positive filamentous bacteria. . The actinomycetes serve as a host tobacteriophages, whereas fungi cannot serve as their host. These organisms are sensitive to antibacterial agents such as penicillin, but not to antimycotic agents such as amphotericin B , the opposite is true for fungi. Historically, because of their microscopic morphology, some actinomycetes have been studied by medical  mycologists. ``

G. Karakatsanis, Dermatologist.