Portal:Fungi

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The Fungi Portal

A fungus is any member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. The Fungi are classified as a kingdom that is separate from plants and animals. The discipline of biology devoted to the study of fungi is known as mycology or fungal biology, which is historically regarded as a branch of botany, even though genetic studies have shown that fungi are more closely related to animals than to plants. Fungi reproduce via spores and grow as hyphae, mycelia, and futher specialized structures. Fungal spores are often produced on specialized structures or in fruiting bodies, such as the head of a mushroom. Abundant worldwide, most fungi are mostly invisible to the naked eye because of the small size of their structures, and their cryptic lifestyles in soil, on dead matter, and as symbionts of plants, animals, or other fungi. Fungi perform an essential role in the decomposition of organic matter and have fundamental roles in nutrient cycling and exchange. They have long been used as a direct source of food, such as mushrooms and truffles, as a leavening agent for bread, and in fermentation of various food products, such as wine, beer, and soy sauce.

Since the 1940s, fungi have been used for the production of antibiotics, and, more recently, various enzymes produced by fungi are used industrially and in detergents. Fungi are also used as biological agents to control weeds and pests. Many species produce bioactive compounds called mycotoxins, such as alkaloids and polyketides, that are toxic to animals including humans. The fruiting structures of a few species are consumed recreationally or in traditional ceremonies as a source of psychotropic compounds. Fungi can break down manufactured materials and buildings, and become significant pathogens of humans and other animals. Losses of crops due to fungal diseases or food spoilage can have a large impact on human food supplies and local economies. Despite their importance on human affairs, little is known of the true biodiversity of Kingdom Fungi, which has been estimated at around 1.5 million species, with about 5% of these having been formally classified.

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Armillaria gallica (synonymous with A. bulbosa and A. lutea) is a species of honey mushroom in the family Physalacriaceae of the order Agaricales. The species is a common and ecologically important wood-decay fungus that can live as a saprobe, or as an opportunistic parasite in weakened tree hosts to cause root or butt rot. It has a widespread distribution, being found in temperate regions of Asia, North America, and Europe, and forms fruit bodies singly or in groups in soil or rotting wood. The fungus has been inadvertently introduced to South Africa. Armillaria gallica has had a confusing taxonomy, due in part to historical difficulties encountered in distinguishing between similar Armillaria species. The fungus received international attention in the early 1990s when an individual colony living in a Michigan forest was reported to cover an area of 15 hectares (37 acres), weigh at least 9,500 kilograms (21,000 lb), and be 1,500 years old. This individual is popularly known as the "humungous fungus", and is a tourist attraction and inspiration for an annual mushroom-themed festival in Crystal Falls.

Armillaria gallica is a largely subterranean fungus, and it produces fruit bodies that are up to about 10 cm (3.9 in) in diameter, yellow-brown, and covered with small scales. On the underside of the caps are gills that are white to creamy or pale orange. The stem may be up to 10 cm (3.9 in) long, with a white cobwebby ring that divides the color of the stem into pale orange to brown above, and lighter-colored below. The fungus can develop an extensive system of underground root-like structures, called rhizomorphs, that help it to efficiently decompose dead wood in temperate broadleaf and mixed forests. It has been the subject of considerable scientific research due to its importance as a plant pathogen, its ability to bioluminesce, its unusual life cycle, and its ability to form large and long-lived colonies.

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Tremella mesenterica (common names include the yellow brain, the golden jelly fungus, the yellow trembler, and witches' butter^[1]) is a common jelly fungus in the family Tremellaceae of the Agaricomycotina. It is most frequently found on dead but attached and on recently fallen branches, especially of angiosperms, as a parasite of wood decay fungi in the genus Peniophora. The gelatinous, orange-yellow fruit body of the fungus, which can grow up to 7.5 cm (3.0 in) diameter, has a convoluted or lobed surface that is greasy or slimy when damp. It grows in crevices in bark, appearing during rainy weather. Within a few days after rain it dries into a thin film or shriveled mass capable of reviving after subsequent rain. This fungus occurs widely in broadleaf and mixed forests and is widely distributed in temperate and tropical regions that include Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North and South America. Although considered bland and flavorless, the fungus is edible. Tremella mesenterica produces carbohydrates that are attracting research interest because of their various biological activities.

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Credit: JJ Harrison

Clavulinopsis corallinorosacea, a species of coral fungus, photographed in Mt Field National Park, Tasmania, Australia.

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Did you know?

... that the fungus Helvella corium has been found growing on caustic spoil mounds of a soda factory and on uranium tailings?
... that the fungus Helvella acetabulum resembles a cabbage leaf?
... that extracts from the elastic saddle fungus can dissolve fibrin blood clots?
... that the powdery mildew fungus Phyllactinia guttata has gelatinous filaments thought to help it adhere to leaves?
... that the "Devil's Cigar" is a mushroom found only in Texas and Japan?

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General images - show new batch

The following are images from various fungi-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Fungi within Zygomycota form progametangia with suspensors during mating (from Mating in fungi)
Image 2Fungi within Ascomycota form ascogonium and antheridium with trichogyne bridge (from Mating in fungi)
Image 3
Lichen covered rocks
(from Marine fungi)
Image 4Ling Zhi-8, an immunomodulatory protein isolated from Ganoderma lucidum (from Medicinal uses of fungi)
Image 5A mushroom (probably Russula brevipes) parasitized by Hypomyces lactifluorum resulting in a "lobster mushroom" (from Mushroom)
Image 6Typical mating fusion of two compatible monokaryons in Basidiomycota (from Mating in fungi)
Image 7Oral candidiasis (from Fungal infection)
Image 8Salmon with fungal disease (from Marine fungi)
Image 9Chytrid parasites of marine diatoms. (A) Chytrid sporangia on Pleurosigma sp. The white arrow indicates the operculate discharge pore. (B) Rhizoids (white arrow) extending into diatom host. (C) Chlorophyll aggregates localized to infection sites (white arrows). (D and E) Single hosts bearing multiple zoosporangia at different stages of development. The white arrow in panel E highlights branching rhizoids. (F) Endobiotic chytrid-like sporangia within diatom frustule. Bars = 10 μm. (from Marine fungi)
Image 10Morchella elata asci viewed with phase contrast microscopy (from Mushroom)
Image 11Morphological diversity of fungi collected from a marine sponge species, Ircinia variabilis (from Marine fungi)
Image 12Agaricus bisporus mushroom is a cultivated edible mushroom for foods and has many names such as "champignon", " button mushroom", "white mushroom", and " portobello" (from Mushroom)
Image 13Pityriasis versicolor (from Fungal infection)
Image 14Psilocybe zapotecorum, a hallucinogenic mushroom (from Mushroom)
Image 15The red yeast rice fungus, Monascus purpureus, can synthesize three statins. (from Medicinal uses of fungi)
Image 16Close-up cross section of mushroom. (from Mushroom)
Image 17The photochemistry of vitamin D₂ biosynthesis (from Medicinal uses of fungi)
Image 18
Driftwood
(from Marine fungi)
Image 19Ganoderma lingzhi (from Mushroom)
Image 20Mushrooms are considered a kind of fungal reproductive organ. (from Mycology)
Image 21Eumycetoma (from Fungal infection)
Image 22The blue gills of Lactarius indigo, a milk-cap mushroom (from Mushroom)
Image 23Culinary mushrooms in a diversity of shapes and colors (from Mushroom)
Image 24Neurospora crassa life cycle. The haploid mycelium reproduces asexually by two processes: (1) simple proliferation of existing mycelium, and (2) formation of conidia (macro- and micro-) which can be dispersed and then germinate to produce new mycelium. In the sexual cycle, mating can only occur between individual strains of different mating type, A and a. Fertilization occurs by the passage of nuclei of conidia or mycelium of one mating type into the protoperithecia of the opposite mating type through the trichogyne. Fusion of the nuclei of opposite mating types occurs within the protoperithecium to form a zygote (2N) nucleus. (from Mating in fungi)
Image 25Psychotropic mushroom Amanita muscaria, commonly known as "fly agaric" (from Mushroom)
Image 26Maitake, a polypore mushroom (from Mushroom)
Image 27Amanita muscaria, the most easily recognised "toadstool", is frequently depicted in fairy stories and on greeting cards. It is often associated with gnomes. (from Mushroom)
Image 28Ferula mushroom in Bingöl, Turkey . This is an edible type of mushroom. (from Mushroom)
Image 29
Roles of fungi in the marine carbon cycle
Roles of fungi in the marine carbon cycle by processing phytoplankton-derived organic matter. Parasitic fungi, as well as saprotrophic fungi, directly assimilate phytoplankton organic carbon. By releasing zoospores, the fungi bridge the trophic linkage to zooplankton, known as the mycoloop. By modifying the particulate and dissolved organic carbon, they can affect bacteria and the microbial loop. These processes may modify marine snow chemical composition and the subsequent functioning of the biological carbon pump. (from Marine fungi)
Image 30Young Amanita phalloides "death cap" mushrooms, with a matchbox for size comparison (from Mushroom)
Image 31Yellow flower pot mushrooms (Leucocoprinus birnbaumii) at various states of development (from Mushroom)
Image 32Amanita jacksonii buttons emerging from their universal veils (from Mushroom)
Image 33Tinea corporis (from Fungal infection)
Image 34Boletus edulis, also known as "cep", is an edible wild bolete found in Europe (from Mushroom)
Image 35Phylogenetic and symbiogenetic tree of living organisms, showing a view of the origins of eukaryotes and prokaryotes (from Marine fungi)
Image 36Agaricus bisporus, one of the most widely cultivated and consumed mushrooms (from Mushroom)
Image 37There are over 100 psychoactive mushroom species of genus Psilocybe native to regions all around the world. (from Mushroom)
Image 38Pennate diatom from an Arctic meltpond, infected with two chytrid-like [zoo-]sporangium fungal pathogens (in false-colour red). Scale bar = 10 μm. (from Marine fungi)
Image 39A tinder fungus, Fomes fomentarius (from Mushroom)
Image 40Morphological characteristics of the caps of mushrooms (from Mushroom)
Image 41Onychomycosis (from Fungal infection)
Image 42
Mycoloop links between phytoplankton and zooplankton
Chytrid‐mediated trophic links between phytoplankton and zooplankton (mycoloop). While small phytoplankton species can be grazed upon by zooplankton, large phytoplankton species constitute poorly edible or even inedible prey. Chytrid infections on large phytoplankton can induce changes in palatability, as a result of host aggregation (reduced edibility) or mechanistic fragmentation of cells or filaments (increased palatability). First, chytrid parasites extract and repack nutrients and energy from their hosts in form of readily edible zoospores. Second, infected and fragmented hosts including attached sporangia can also be ingested by grazers (i.e. concomitant predation). (from Marine fungi)
Image 43Group photograph taken at a meeting of the British Mycological Society in 1913 (from Mycology)
Image 44Common puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum) has a glebal hymenium; the interior is white when it is young, but as it matures, the interior becomes brown containing spores (from Mushroom)
Image 45
Diagram of a mycoloop (fungus loop)
Parasitic chytrids can transfer material from large inedible phytoplankton to zooplankton. Chytrids zoospores are excellent food for zooplankton in terms of size (2–5 μm in diameter), shape, nutritional quality (rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids and cholesterols). Large colonies of host phytoplankton may also be fragmented by chytrid infections and become edible to zooplankton. (from Marine fungi)
Image 46Agaricus bitorquis mushroom emerging through asphalt concrete in summer (from Mushroom)