Evolution and Kingdoms of Organisms from the Perspective of a Mycologist
1992; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 84; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/00275514.1992.12026099
ISSN1557-2536
Autores Tópico(s)Plant Pathogens and Fungal Diseases
ResumoAre Oomycetes and chytrids fungi? The polyphyletic nature of fungi has been debated for more than a hundred years, but the five-kingdom theory of Whittaker (1969), and more recently the eight-kingdom concept of Cavalier-Smith (1988), is presenting mycologists with a dilemma of how to treat fungi in the classroom and in textbooks, and presents a problem of selecting an appropriate journal for the publication of certain research papers. I will address these issues by first discussing the recent concepts concerning the origin of the various groups traditionally called fungi, and then by presenting my views on the definition and classification of fungi in the light of these revelations. The early work of Sachs (1874), De Bary (1884) and many others (reviewed by Atkinson, 1909) centered on whether fungi were monophyletic or polyphyletic. Ernst Bessey (1942) in his presidential address to this society 50 years ago reviewed many of the evolutionary theories, but at that time there was little new technology to add to the morphological data from the previous century. It is only in the past 30 years that significant new technology has been applied to the study of evolution. Novel studies on cell wall composition, e.g., Bartnicki-Garcia (1970, 1986), cellular metabolism (Vogel, 1965; LeJohn, 1974), and ultrastructural studies employing the transmission electron microscopy have contributed substantially to knowledge on fungal evolution. Electron microscopy has demonstrated a diver-
Referência(s)