How many species exist?
Described species sit near 150,000; estimates run into millions. Sequence clusters outrun Latin names.
Darker cells mean a higher score for this topic on that metric.
Familiarity80
Medical weight60
Benefit70
Risk48
Research72
Live debate28
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Quick answers
Where should I start with Fungi?
Read Identity → How they live → Body & health, then use compare rails.
Is this page advice for Fungi?
Public-health education — not a care plan, prescription, or outbreak briefing.
What does the local lens add?
It names everyday desks for Tree of microbes before English norms look universal.
Are the scores a ranking of Fungi?
No — editorial 0–100 browsing aids inside this atlas only.
How do I compare Fungi to neighbours?
Use related cards and best-of / quiz rails after the first three chapters.
Which chapter is densest?
How they live and Body & health carry mechanisms; skim Identity first.
Metabarcoding finds fungal OTUs that never fruit in a way collectors can name. The kingdom is still mostly dark taxa.
Clinics meanwhile watch Candida auris and azole-resistant Aspergillus — One Health problems that link hospitals, farms and weather.
Open questions
How much carbon do mycorrhizae move?
Plants pay sugars for phosphorus. Global budgets are still being rewritten with new field methods.
Can we slow antifungal resistance?
Azoles in clinics and agriculture overlap. Stewardship is policy, not a home experiment.
What is a healthy indoor mycobiome?
Some mould is normal. Illness clusters need buildings science plus clinicians, not bleach mythology.
Can fungi replace some plastics and fuels?
Mycelium materials and enzymatic lignin work are real labs. Scale and life-cycle costs are the open part.
The frontier is mapping partnerships more than inventing a more aggressive mould.
Keep exploring
More in Tree of microbes
Bacteria
Single-celled prokaryotes with cell walls — the oldest widespread life form, and both partners and pathogens.
Familiarity 95Viruses
Packets of DNA or RNA that are not cells — they replicate only inside living hosts.
Familiarity 96Archaea
A prokaryotic domain that is not bacteria — methanogens, extremophiles and no known human pathogens.
Familiarity 35Bacteriophages
Viruses that infect bacteria — Earth's most abundant biological entities, and a concept-level idea in medicine.
Familiarity 42Protozoa
Motile unicellular eukaryotes — a teaching grade that includes pond ciliates and a minority of serious parasites.
Familiarity 58