Diverse human uses for Fungi

Champignon Dish

Assorted mushroom cacerole

Fungi, along with bacteria, are essential to life on Earth because of their function as decomposers. Through decomposition, they release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and return organic and nitrogenous compounds to the soil as inorganic nutrients. These nutrients can then be recycled by plants and animals through food webs. This includes humans.

Amanita muscaria recycling nutrients for cows and humans

Cow growing mushrooms on her back

Mushrooms growing on cow shit

Food and drink producers
 Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Yeast),  ferments sugar to ethanol and carbon dioxide, making it useful in the production of alcoholic beverages such as beer and wine, as well as making ethanol for use in industry of alcohol

Yeast fermenting beer

Yeast rising bread

Baking
The carbon dioxide produced by the yeast makes bread "rise" and gives it a spongy texture.  Besides bread, pizza dough, wine, and beer, yeasts are also used in the production of soy sauce, miso, saki, and tempeh, and are important ingredients for nutritional supplements  

Soy sauces

As food
Agaricus bisporus, sold as button mushrooms when small or Portobello mushrooms when larger, is a common food species. Many Asian fungi are grown commercially, including straw mushrooms (Volvariella volvacea), oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus), shiitakes (Lentinula edodes), and enokitake (Flammulina spp.) 

Agaricus bisporus

Portobello mushrooms

Volvariella volvacea

Pleurotus ostreatus

Lentinula edodes

Flammulina spp

Delicatesen 
Mushroom farming and mushroom gathering are large industries in many countries. Truffles, morels, chanterelles, black trumpets, and porcini mushrooms are all considered delicacies and sell for high prices. 

Truffles

Morels

Chanterelles

Black trumpets

Porcini mushrooms

 Certain types of cheeses, such as Stilton and Roquefort, are made by inoculating milk curds with fungal species that impart a unique flavor and texture to the cheese. 

Stilton

Roquefort

Medicines and industrial chemicals. 
The most important of these are antibiotics, such as penicillins (Penicillium sp.), which are used to kill bacterial infections . 
Other fungal antibiotics include cyclosporin, which is used to suppress the immune system after transplant surgery, and fusidic acid, which helps control infection from MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). 

Penicillium sp

Other fungi are used in the production of vitamins, anti-cancer, and high-blood-pressure drugs. One group of fungal compounds, the statins, is used to lower cholesterol by inhibiting cholesterol synthesis.

The drug griseofulvin, from Penicillium griseofulvum, is used to treat fungal infections. Industrial chemicals such as citric, gluconic, lactic, and malic acids, are fungal products. As are industrial enzymes, such as lipases used in detergents, cellulases used in making cellulosic ethanol and stonewashed jeans, and amylases, invertases, proteases and xylanases.

Biological research
Genetic modification of yeast species has resulted in more efficient methods of producing pharmaceuticals. Genetically engineered yeast can be used to produce human glycoproteins, which can be used to treat people with specific deficiencies.

Agriculture
Fungi can be used to control pathogenic microorganisms. They compete with the pathogenic species for nutrients or space, suppressing their growth. In other cases, they act as "biopesticides," by producing toxins that actively kill the pathogenic species. Grasshoppers, for example, can be killed by the fungus Beauveria bassiana. 

Bioremediation 
Because some fungi can break down toxic compounds such as insecticides, coal tars, and fuels, it is likely that they will have an increasing role in the bioremediation of damaged ecosystems. Some fungi have been shown to break down uranium oxides, suggesting that they might even be able to bioremediate sites polluted by radioactivity.