Abstract

Fungi are primitive plants devoid of the green colour (chlorophyll) and hence dependent for the supply of their organic food substances on dead or live animals and plants. To a layman the name fungus conjures up the vision of an unwanted organism capable of doing harm only and causing enormous economic loss. Its loathsome presence is felt all round us. In the field it is responsible for a variety of diseases in a number of economic plants either bringing about their destruction or resulting in much reduced yields. In homes it thrives in the preserved food materials and stored food grains, fruits and pickles and causes them to rot or turn 'mouldy' and become unfit for consumption. Leather goods such as shoes and suitcases and even clothing form favourable media for the growth of moulds during humid or rainy weather and if the articles are not carefully attended to every now and then, they perish quickly.

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