Disciplines

Mycology

Citation Formats

General Reference

Science Atlas. "Mycology." Accessed August 29, 2026. https://dev-science.interactiveatlas.org/disciplines/mycology.

APA Style

Science Atlas. (n.d.). Mycology. Retrieved August 29, 2026, from https://dev-science.interactiveatlas.org/disciplines/mycology

BibTeX

@misc{scienceatlas-mycology,
  author = {Science Atlas},
  title = {Mycology},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-science.interactiveatlas.org/disciplines/mycology},
  note = {Accessed August 29, 2026}
}

Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their taxonomy, genetics, biochemical properties and their many uses to and effects on humans.

Facts

Founded Year

1737 1

Dated to Pier Antonio Micheli's Nova Plantarum Genera (1737), which laid the foundations for the systematic classification of fungi.

Central Question

How are fungi, long classified with plants but now recognized as a separate kingdom more closely related to animals, related to one another by descent, and what roles do they play as decomposers and symbionts across nearly every terrestrial ecosystem? 1

Scope

Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy, and their use by humans as food, medicine and in fermentation. 1

Significance

Italian botanist Pier Antonio Micheli, working in the early eighteenth century, was the first to show that fungi reproduce from spores rather than arising spontaneously, publishing his findings in Nova Plantarum Genera in 1729 and earning recognition as the father of mycology. 1

Cross-Tradition Connections