Funga Taxonomic Kingdom | 21 Oct 2024

Source: DTE 

Why in News? 

Recently, Chile and the United Kingdom have prepared a proposal named ‘pledge for fungal conservation’ to give fungi its own taxonomic kingdom named ‘funga’. 

• The proposal would be submitted during the 16th Conference of Parties (COP16) of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Cali, Colombia in October 2024. 

What are the Key Highlights of the Pledge for Fungal Conservation?  

• About the Proposal: It aims to recognise fungi as an independent kingdom, termed Funga, alongside plants (flora) and animals (fauna).  
  • It advocates for the recognition of fungi in legislation, policies, and global agreements to maintain fungi’s ecological benefits. 
• Current Status: In August 2021, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Species Survival Commission (IUCN SSC) and IUCN Re:wild became the first organisations to recognise fungi as one of three kingdoms of life. 
  • The Chilean-British-led "3F" (Flora, Fauna, and Funga) initiative emphasises the need for international recognition and protection of fungi. 
• Wide Diversity: As per Mycologists, only 8% of the total 2.2 and 3.8 million species of fungi are scientifically known and about 2,000 new species are discovered annually across the world. 
  • Mycologist studies fungi such as moulds, yeasts, and mushrooms. 
• Ecological Importance of Fungi: Fungi help in decomposition, forest regeneration, carbon sequestration, and maintaining the global nutrient cycle. 
  • They play a vital role in mammalian digestion and are crucial in the production of antibiotic medication. 
  • Several common food products, including bread, cheese, wine, beer, and chocolate, depend on fungi for their production 
  • Fungi also help in cleaning polluted soils and offer sustainable food alternatives to animal products e.g., amino acids, fibre, and antioxidants.  
  • Boreal forest fungi absorb significant amounts of carbon through root symbiosis with plants, thus contributing to mitigating climate change. 
• Threats to Fungi: Overharvesting, nitrogen enrichment in soils, deforestation, climate change, pollution, and the wide scale use of fungicides endanger fungal species.  
  • These threats jeopardise the symbiotic relationships fungi have with plants and animals, disrupting ecosystem stability. 

What are Key Facts About Fungi? 

• About Fungi: Fungi is a group of eukaryotic, non-phototrophic organisms with rigid cell walls. It includes mushrooms, moulds and yeasts.  
• Cell Structure: Fungi have a unique cell wall composed of chitin which is a defining feature of the fungal kingdom. 
  • Plants have cell walls made of cellulose, and bacteria have peptidoglycan in their walls.  
• Nutritional Mode: Fungi are heterotrophic, meaning they obtain nutrients by absorbing organic matter from their environment.  
  • They do this through external digestion, where they secrete enzymes to break down complex substances before absorbing the simpler molecules.  
• Reproductive Strategies: Fungi reproduce through both asexual and sexual means, often utilising spores. 
• Growth Form: Fungi typically grow as mycelium, a network of filamentous structures called hyphae. 
• Symbiotic Relationships: Fungi are known for forming symbiotic relationships with other organisms, such as mycorrhizal associations with plants. 
  • Some fungi also form lichens in association with algae.