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In this article we will discuss about the economic importance of ascomycetes.
The saprophytic Ascomycetes such as yeasts, blue molds and green molds which are cosmopolitan in their distribution are of great value to man. They play an important role in the production of food and medicine.
The yeasts ferment sugar to produce alcohol and carbon dioxide. The entire brewing industry (wine and liquor making) and baking industry (bread making) are built around this simple plant. Food yeast is important as diet supplement.
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Yeasts are also a source of many vitamins. Species of Penicillium are employed in the production of cheese and high grade citric acid. Some species of blue and green molds are employed in the production of many other important organic acids.
Some Ascomycetes yield antibiotic drugs such as penicillin and flavicin. Production of penicillin from Penicillium notatum and P. chrysogenum has become a large industry in India and other countries.
Ergot, a valuable drug, is obtained from an ascomycete (Claviceps purpurea) which infects cereals. The drug is used at child birth because it stops bleeding and checks other uterine disturbances.
Included in the Ascomycetes are the popular edible fungi, the truffles and morels, which are considered table delicacies. Neurospora has become an important experimental organism in genetic research.
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The negative role the Ascomycetes play in the economy of nature is equally significant. Some spoil foods and other consumer goods. The celluloytic Ascomycetes destroy fabrics containing cellulose.
Some of the parasitic species cause serious diseases of our economic plants. Powdery mildews such as Erysiphe graminis infect various grains. Erysiphe cichoracearum affects fruits and vegetables causing loss by low production.
Peach leaf curl, brown rot of stone fruits, black rot of plums and bitter root of apples are the common diseases of fruit trees caused by parasitic Ascomycetes. The parasitic Ascomycetes also include several severe though uncommon human pathogens.
Several species are the causative agents of diseases of ear and lung. Some of them cause a respiratory disease called aspergillosis. Body ring worm is another fungal disease caused by an ascomycete.
