Fungi

{
  "id": "MLC-T-ENV-011932",
  "term": "Fungi",
  "field": "Environment",
  "definition": "1. Small, often microscopic plants without chlorophyll. Some fungi infect and cause disease in plants or animals; other fungi are useful in stabilizing sewage or in breaking down wastes for compost.\n\n2. (FUN-ji) Mushrooms, molds, mildews, rusts, and smuts that are small non-chlorophyll-bearing plants lacking roots, stems and leaves. They occur in natural waters and grow best in the absence of light. Their decomposition may cause objectionable tastes and odors in water.\n\n3. A separate kingdom comprising living things that are neither animals nor plants. The kingdom Fungi includes molds, yeasts, mushrooms, and puffballs. In the mold course, the terms fungi and mold are used interchangeably.\n\n4. Any of a group of parasitic lower plants that lack chlorophyll, including molds and mildews.\n\n5. A group of organisms that lack chlorophyll, including molds, mildews, yeasts, mushrooms. They receive their nutrition from decomposing organic matter. Some cause disease in humans.\n\n6. A kingdom of eukaryotic, heterotrophic organisms that live parasitically as saprobes, including MUSHROOMS; YEASTS; smuts, molds, etc. They reproduce either sexually or asexually, and have life cycles that range from simple to complex. Filamentous fungi, commonly known as molds, refer to those that grow as multicellular colonies.\n\n7. Aerobic, multicellular, nonphotosynthetic, heterotrophic microorganisms. The fungi include mushrooms, yeast, molds, and smuts. Most fungi are saprophytes, obtaining their nourishment from dead organic matter. Along with bacteria, fungi are the principal organisms responsible for the decomposition of carbon in the biosphere. Fungi have two ecological advantages over bacteria: (1) they can grow in low moisture areas, and (2) they can grow in low pH environments.\n\n8. Molds, mildews, yeasts, mushrooms, and puffballs, a group of organisms lacking in chlorophyll (i.e., are not photosynthetic) and which are usually non-mobile, filamentous, and multicellular. Some grow in soil, others attach themselves to decaying trees and other plants whence they obtain nutrients. Some are pathogens, others stabilize sewage and digest composted waste. [EPA 2005b]",
  "subject": "Air",
  "references": [
    "Aquatic Biodiversity Glossary",
    "Drinking Water Technical & Legal Terms",
    "Mold - Glossary of Terms",
    "Indoor Air Quality Glossary",
    "I-BEAM Glossary of Terms",
    "NLM Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)",
    "Office of Underground Storage Tanks Technical Terms; Glossary of Technical Terms: Office of Underground Storage Tanks",
    "MRA Thesaurus"
  ],
  "url": "https://mlchart.com/terminology/environment/fungi/"
}