To date, the majority of mycological studies are focused on Ascomycota and Basidiomycota. Research on basal fungi is rather limited with an obvious scarcity of data. Classification of basal fungi has witnessed ongoing changes in the last few decades. There have been numerous taxonomic revisions, establishment of new phyla and debates on the possibility to exclude some basal lineages from the currently circumscribed fungal groups. Zoosporic phyla such as Rozellomycota, Aphelidiomycota and Chytridiomycota are characterized by zoospores, which are motile spores with a flagellum. The position of the first two within the fungal kingdom is currently being debated. Non zoosporic phyla are collectively called zygomycetous fungi and include Mucoromycota and Zoopagomycota. Basal fungi perform important ecological roles. Some groups of basal fungi control the population density of plankton, Oomycetes, aphids, and small invertebrates, while taking part in recycling of energy and matter in food webs. A few basal fungi are known for uptaking toxic heavy metals from the environment. The earliest basal fungi emerged just after the divergence of the nucleariid line of phagotrophs. Various taxonomic studies question the monophyly of some basal phyla, such as Chytridiomycota. Depending on the life mode of the fungi and whether motile or non-motile spores are produced, the isolation methods differ. For the culture of parasitic zoosporic fungi, co-culturing the fungi with their host is recommended while for saprobes ones, baits can be used. For zygomycetous fungi, common methods include dilution plating and direct inoculation. In this review, we pinpoint research gaps and discuss the current classification schemes along with information on evolution, diversity, current methods and challenges to isolate and culture basal fungi.

迄今为止，大多数真菌学研究集中在子囊菌和担子菌。由于缺乏数据，对基础真菌的研究相当有限。在过去的几十年中，基础真菌的分类一直在发生变化。已经进行了许多生物分类学修订，建立了新的门，并就将某些基础谱系排除在目前限制的真菌类群之外的可能性进行了辩论。游动孢子，例如Rozellomycota，Aphelidiomycota和Chytridiomycota，以游动孢子为特征，游动孢子是带有鞭毛的能动孢子。前两个在真菌王国中的地位目前正在辩论中。非动物孢子菌门统称为合子菌真菌，包括毛霉菌属和动物盲菌属。基础真菌发挥重要的生态作用。一些基类真菌控制浮游生物，卵菌纲，蚜虫和小型无脊椎动物的种群密度，同时参与食物网中能量和物质的循环利用。几种基底真菌因从环境中吸收有毒重金属而闻名。最早的基础真菌是在吞噬菌的核苷系发散后才出现的。各种分类学研究质疑某些基门的单系性，如斜纹夜蛾。根据真菌的生活模式以及是否会产生运动性或非运动性孢子，分离方法会有所不同。对于寄生性游动孢子真菌的培养，建议将真菌与其宿主共培养，而对于腐殖质类则建议使用诱饵。对于合子菌真菌，常用方法包括稀释平板接种和直接接种。在这篇评论中