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Recent Concepts in Fungal Taxonomy: A Review

Abhishek Katoch and Pooja Kapoor

Kingdom Fungi, which has been estimated at around 1.5 million species, with about 5% of these having been formally classified. Species identification based on conventional phenot ypic methods is often time - consuming and laborious and is hindered by the unstable and subjective nature of phenotypic characteristics, which are readily influenced by culture conditions. Such phenotypic approaches has a clear limitation on fungi that do n ot grow in cultur e . Molecular systematics involving the use of genes to gain taxonomic status of organisms and their evolutionary relationships have influenced inducting significant changes in the traditional concepts of systematics. Techniques such as RFLP, RAPD, rDNA analysis, SSR and ISSR are are no w gaining importance in fungal systematics and related studies. These techniques are much faster, more specific and more accurate. These developments have provided new information that has caused the biolo gical - species concept to come under criticism in favor of the phylogenetic - species concept and have helped reshaping the classification of Kingdom Fungi.