ABSTRACT
The taxonomy of fungi has become very important because they are used in various industrial, medical, food, and other biotechnological applications. They are also involved in plant diseases, human and animal medical problems, and food spoilage and toxigeneses. Fungal antigens can be prepared from whole cells or parts of cells, spores, metabolic products, or cultural media used to grow fungi. Most fungal antigens have been obtained from the soluble component of cells or the medium in which they have grown. Bacterial polysaccharides are generally composed of repeating units of specific oligosaccharides, resulting in a high epitope density and a high molecular weight. The immunological properties of polysaccharides and the knowledge that fungi also produce extracellular and water-soluble polysaccharides has resulted in many studies concerning the structural analysis of polysaccharides produced by fungi. Antigens can be useful in taxonomy because they are a normal part of fungal growth.
