Small Things Considered

State of the World's Fungi

by Roberto | We want to bring to your attention an outstanding new report on fungi from the Kew Royal Botanic Garden. It makes for great reading and clearly points out the many roles that fungi play on the functioning of Earth's biosphere. Read more →

Fungi, Toxins, and Fungal Viruses (A Snippet)

by Elio | Fungi make toxins (called, not surprisingly, mycotoxins). This won’t surprise you because you know that certain mushrooms are poisonous and you may know of the aflatoxins, noxious chemicals made by molds that grow on stored grains. Read more →

Psilocybin (A Snippet)

by Elio | I suppose that among the readers of this blog interest in the biology and biochemistry of psilocybin may outweigh that in its recreational value (but I am not taking bets). Anyhow, there is something to report on its biosynthesis and, less so, on what's in it for the mushroom that makes it Read more →

Tainted

by Vivienne Baillie Gerritsen | It has happened to all of us. You are seated in a good restaurant and the waiter has just brought you the wine you ordered. He solemnly shows you the label. You nod, and he proceeds to slit open the lead seal with the tip of his corkscrew. Pealing the seal off the bottle neck, he then... Read more →

STC (Mycological Division) Goes to the Movies

by Elio
You may have seen the movie Phantom Thread. Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, it got six nominations for Academy awards. And it deals with mushrooms, something that doesn't happen in movies very much. ... Read more →

Fungomania III. Everybody Talks About the Weather But Mushrooms Do Something About It.

by Elio | We finish our Fungomania series of this year with a question: Why when you feel the cap of a mushroom in the woods, does it feel cool and somewhat moist? Read more →

Fungomania II. The Humongousest Fungus

by Elio | We dealt with a monster fossil fungus before. In the interest of expediency, let me reprint part of what I said: "Several museums pos­sess specimens of a cylindrical organism named Prototaxites  whose tree-like trunks measure up to 8 meters long by 1 meter wide. Protota­xites  dated from approximately 420 to 350 million... Read more →

Fungomania I. The Yeast and the Bee.

by Elio | Fungomania returns… In keeping with what we did a year ago, we offer three consecutive fungal posts. I have earlier professed sharing with many a fascination for symbioses (see here). I still don’t know why this is, perhaps it’s simply because multiple genomes interacting are more exciting than one. Read more →

Who Dares Doubt The Decomposing Powers Of Fungi?

by David Lipson | Apparently, it is widely accepted that it took fungi 120 million years to figure out how to decompose woody plants. Hence lignin-rich materials accumulated along with the appearance of widespread forests in the Carboniferous Period, which led to huge coal deposits until white rot fungi finally caught up... Read more →

Fine Reading: Unearthing the Roots of Ectomycorrhizal Symbioses

by Elio | This is a primer on the mycorrhizae, the association of plant roots and fungi. An outstanding review article on this subject has recently appeared, authored by four Frenchmen and one American: F. Martin, A. Kohler, C. Murat, C. Veneault-Fourrey, and D. S. Hibbett. I found reading it both exciting and illuminating, and a good way to conclude this »Fungomania« series. Read more →