History of mycology from India-some glimpses

Abstract

Fungi are known to be nonchlorophyllous and true nucleated organisms possessing cell wall of chitin and osmotrophic. Around 1.5-5.1 million fungi are estimated. So far one lakh fungal species have been identified in the world, and 29,000 fungi are identified and described from India. 32% of Indian fungi have been discovered by Subramanian (1971, 1992), and remaining 68% are described by others. All these fungi belong to Zoosporic group, Zygomycota, Ascomycota/Basidiomycota and anamorphic fungi. Presently anamorphic fungi are merged with Ascomycota/ Basidiomycota as per one fungus-one name concept of Melbourne code and new classification. This review presents the historical perspective emphasizing on the contributions made by Indian mycologists.