Mycology Mycology Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans as a source for tinder, medicine, food, and entheogens, as well as their dangers, such as toxicity or infection. A biologist specializing in mycology is called a mycologist. Mycology branches into the field of phytopathology, the study of plant diseases, and the two disciplines remain closely related because the vast majority of plant pathogens are fungi. Historically, mycology was a branch of botany because, although fungi are evolutionarily more closely related to animals than
Amyloid (mycology) Amyloid (mycology) In mycology a tissue or feature is said to be amyloid if it has a positive amyloid reaction when subjected to a crude chemical test using iodine in either Melzer's reagent or Lugol's solution, producing a black to blue-black staining. The term "amyloid" is derived from the Latin "amyloideus" ("starch-like"). It refers to the fact that starch gives a similar reaction, also called an amyloid reaction. The test can either be on microscopic features, such as spore walls or hyphal walls, or the apical apparatus on an ascus, or be a macroscopic reaction on tissue where a drop