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Hello, our planet is home to millions of species of fungi and the role they play is vital.

Without fungi life on Earth as we note simply wouldn't exist. They also play an important part in our

everyday lives. The making of bread, beer and wine wouldn't be possible if fungi

were not available. In the field of medicine they've been part of the production of certain antibiotics since penicillin.

However, there are other fungi which can cause nasty diseases in humans and destroy trees.

Some fungi are even toxic to humans and can kill if consumed.

Despite their significance, much of the way in which fungi operate remains a mystery.

With me to discuss fungi are Sarah Ger, Professor of Food Security in the Biosciennes department at the University of Exeter.

Lynn Bodi, Professor of Fungal Ecology at Cardiff University and Debbie Johnson, NHA in microbial ecology at the University of Manchester.

Then, what is a fungus and what did they look like?

Well, funky are not plants, they're not animals, they're not bacteria, they're a kingdom of their own. You could be forgiven I suppose for

thinking that they're plants because the fruit bodies, the things we think of as

toadstools or brackets on trees, I suppose superficially they look a bit like the flowers or fruits of plants, but they're not.

The flowers and fruits of plants, we know that's not the only part of a plant. There's the leaves and the roots and the shoots.

And in the same way, the fungus has much more to it than that toadstool that we see when we wander through the woods.

The toadstool is just the tip of the iceberg, underground. through the is a network of fine filaments.

That's the body of the fungus.

This is what sets fungi apart from all other organisms.

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