History of Mycology

 Pier’ Antonio Micheli

o Founder of the science of mycology
o He is also known as Pietro Antonio Micheli
o Catholic priest and a botanist
o Biggest claim: Discovered the existence of fungal spores thus beginning the process of
dispelling the many myths of where fungi came from
o Specialized in micro fungi and is notable for having defined several important genera
including aspergillus and botrytis

 Rev. Miles Joseph Berkeley (1803-1889)

o First to use the term “MYCOLOGY” in the English language
o Coined the term “FUNGOLOGY”
o Leader in taxonomic mycology in England
o One of the founder of the plant pathology

BASIC TERMINOLOGIES
Mycology: from greek words;
mykes – mushroom
logos – discourse/ study

Mycology
o the study of fungi
o determine the importance of fungi
o characteristics and morphology
o microscopic and macroscopic
 culture
 classification
o pathogenesis

Comparison with Bacteriology

 morphology and microscopic structures are larger
 field of study is smaller
o 200 of the 100,000 are pathogenic to man
o Escherichia coli: 28 genera, 112 species
 biochemical tests are often not needed
o patient’s history
o fungal morphology
 change of name is less rapid
 time frame of identification varies
o most require 5 days for growth
 Mycoses – are the fungal infections
o rarely person-to-person
 o epidemics are rare  source is easily traced thus the chain of infection is easily
broken

o infection occurs only to:

1. immunocompromised
2. exposed to overwhelming dose

HISTORY
 Before: regarded as relatively insignificant
 Now: currently documented as a common cause of infection
performed in few reference laboratories only, why?
1. lack of experience
2. shortage of trained individuals
3. lack of QC programs
4. inability to support cost