Fungi scientists are endangered species

They give us our daily bread and beer, provide us with life-saving medicines and recycle our waste, yet the study of fungi – life forms that include everything from penicillin to truffles – could end within the next 10 years in Britain.

Experts have warned that the science of identifying and classifying the many different species of fungi faces extinction in the UK, with less than a handful of qualified mycologists left in full-time employment by 2011 and none at all by 2018. Mycology – the study of fungi – is no longer taught as a distinct subject in British universities and budget cuts have led to fewer scientists engaged in taxonomy and systematics, the scientific classification of species.

Joan Kelley, head of mycology at the Centre for Agricultural Bioscience International (Cabi) in Oxfordshire, said there is now no formal training in fungal systematics and taxonomy in the UK at any level within the education system, and this could lead to a complete lack of mycologists in 10 years. Cabi has one of the most important collections of fungi in Britain but even this is at risk of being destroyed unless the Government can provide the funding as well as the training needed to keep the science of mycology alive, Dr Kelley said.

"There does seem to be an 'out of sight, out of mind' approach to funding. But without fungi, life as we know it would not be possible. Assessing ecosystems without taking into account the fungi is like taking care of computer boxes but not the chips inside," Dr Kelley said.

"Yet major pieces of work continue to be published considering ecology and climate change without any mention of fungi."

Fungi perform two vital roles for life on Earth. They rot down the tough lignin and cellulose of fallen trees and they form close relationships with the roots of plants in a mutual symbiosis that allows vegetation to survive. They also provide important sources of food – from expensive truffles to the filamentous fungi used in Quorn, the meat substitute – as well as medicines such as the antibiotic penicillin and the cholesterol-lowering statins.

"We still don't have a complete checklist of fungi in Britain and we don't know what's out there," said Peter Roberts, a senior mycologist at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, who retires next year. "We're still finding species in Britain that are new to science, but there is a decreasing number of increasingly elderly mycologists in the UK. Systematics and taxonomy are not seen as cutting-edge science. Many young people think that the classification of fungi has been done years ago. I know botanists and zoologists are finding the same kinds of problem and it's not seen as easily reversed."

Some of the most damaging diseases of important food crops are caused by fungi.

Facts about fungi: The basics of life

Life-saving fungi

Most people living in the UK owe their lives to a fungus, Penicillium chrysogenum, the original source of the penicillin antibiotics. Also, Tolypocladium inflatum is the source of cyclosporin, the drug that is used to prevent rejection in organ transplants.

Recycling fungus

Fungi are the ultimate recyclers, and are the only organisms capable of recycling wood because of their ability to break down lignin and cellulose. If it were not for species such as Ganoderma applanatum, centre right, our woodlands could not exist

Valuable fungi

One of most valuable fungi is Ophiocordyceps sinensis, the Himalayan caterpillar fungus which sells for up to £20,000 a kilo and is highly prized in Chinese traditional medicine. But white truffles – edible fruiting bodies of underground tuber fungi – can cost even more

Drug-producing fungus

The fungus Monascus ruber is one of the principal sources of statin drugs, used for lowering cholesterol levels. It also causes food spoilage, and close relatives are used to make Oriental fermented foods

Root fungus

Technically known as a mycorrhiza, 85 per cent of plants have fungus growing on their roots, without which they would be unable to thrive. The fungus actually helps the plant absorb water and nutrients from the soil and the fungus benefits from direct access to the sugars glucose and sucrose produced by the plant

Freezing fungi

Fungal species known as extremophiles – due to the adverse and extreme conditions they live in – have been found in Antarctica at temperatures well below 0C. On a recent trip to the Antarctic, more than 450 strains of fungi were collected by the British Antarctic Survey.

Steve Connor