Mycology is the study of fungi.
A phylogeny is an evolutionary ”tree” of related
organisms that can be constructed by using
information obtained from the genetic material.
Genetic information is contained in all living cells,
in the form of long DNA molecules that take the
shape of connected double- stranded spirals
(DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid). DNA
spirals, or “helixes”, are tightly compressed in the
nucleus of every cell. Their information is
organized into a code made up of four small
molecules — the building blocks of DNA. The
molecules, called nucleotides, are labelled:
A (adenine), C (cytosine), G (guanine) and T
(thymine).
It is possible to draw conclusions about the
evolution of a group of plant or animal species,
and the relationships among them, by comparing
selected pieces of DNA.
The main aspect of viruses that causes controversy over it being classified as living is its manner of reproduction.
Viruses do reproduce, like a living organism. However, they cannot do so without a host cell, so they are unable to reproduce on their own, which means that they are not living.
Hope this helps!
