ABSTRACT
For centuries, fungal identification has been based on morphological, physiological, and chemical characteristics of specimens. For the most part, these systems still work extremely well. They provide accurate species identification inexpensively, are not laborintensive, and require little equipment beyond a microscope and chemical reagents. Since phenotype is the result of the expression of hundreds of genes, the higher level classifications based on morphology/ physiology are generally sound. A major drawback of the traditional identification methods is that they require some technical training in order to acquire the skills necessary to identify fungi or characterize strains. This training has become increasingly difficult to acquire, whereas molecular biology techniques are now taught widely in secondary schools and can be applied to a multitude of fields. Another drawback of the traditional methods is that they can take a week or more for fungal colonies to grow and develop the characters necessary for identification. In some cases, the necessary characters never develop. Several of the molecular methods provide identifications more quickly and do not rely on the presence of reproductive structures.
