Taxonomy and Classification of Fungi

Kingdom Fungi (Eumycota) is one of the seven kingdoms of life consisting of heterotrophic eukaryotes that are ubiquitous in nature and capable of causing infections in humans. International Commission on the Taxonomy of Fungi (ICTF), International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN), International Mycological Congress (IMC), and Nomenclature Committee for Fungi (NCF) are the agencies involved in the taxonomical classification of fungi according to the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICNafp). ICTF and ICBN provide a holistic ‘species concept’ based on morphology, physiology, phenotypic characteristics, chemotaxonomy, ecology, and genotypic methods. The concept of ‘one fungus, one name’ is emphasised. Currently, all clinically relevant fungi form a part of four phyla under the kingdom Eumycota, namely, Zygomycota, Zoopagomycota, Ascomycota, and Basidiomycota. Molecular phylogeny has revolutionised fungal taxonomy with sequences available in numerous online databases. Despite much progress, ambiguity in molecular methods persists, inducing dynamic evolution in fungal taxonomy.