Small Things Considered

Fungomania III. Of a Fungus and a Crop

by Roberto | There are literal­ly thousands of fun­gal spe­cies that cause plant dis­eases and their ef­fects on agri­cul­tu­ral crops ends of cost­ing bil­lions of dol­lars eve­ry year. Many of these fun­gal plant pa­tho­gens are fas­ci­na­ting sub­jects for stu­dy. Among the many, I have a per­so­nal "fa­vo­rite." I place the word in quotes be­cause I re­cog­nize the od­di­ty of la­bel­ing a pa­tho­gen... Read more →

Fungomania II. Singing Frogs

by Roberto | Like many others, I am having trouble focusing on work these days. I admit it, I've had dif­fi­cult­ies sit­ting down to write this post; the mind keeps wan­der­ing off, ima­gin­ing the like­ly sce­na­rios of the coming months. After all, we are in the midst of the COVID-19 pan­demic. In an ef­fort to over­come my an­xie­ty, I find so­lace in think­ing that... Read more →

Fungomania I. Enoki

by Elio
You most likely have eaten enoki mushrooms in a Japanese soup or a salad. You may have wondered about them, looking as they do as thin whitish noodles with a small cap at the end... Read more →

Discovering a Novel Algal-Fungal Symbiosis and a Humanized Journal

by Elio | Lichens are said to occupy an astounding 6% of the surface of Earth’s land mass, so pay attention. As you are well aware, lichens arise by the symbiotic interaction of fungi and algae (or sometimes cyanobacteria). And as you know, they consist of separate individuals of the two partners, each benefiting from the interaction. Read more →

Making Mycorrhrizae. A Snippet.

by Elio | Very high on the list of this world's vital sym­bio­ses are the my­cor­rhi­zae, the as­so­ci­a­tion of fun­gal fi­la­ments with plant root­lets. About 90% of all vas­cu­lar plants (from ferns on up) pos­sess them. They con­tri­bute great­ly to the health of the plants, being a ma­jor source of ni­tro­gen, salts, and water... Read more →

Fungomania 3. Farming and Alcohol

by Elio
Alcohol and farming do not often go together, unless you think of beetles. In certain species, ethanol is used to increase the fruit of their labor, which sounds good but requires an explanation. Read more →

Fungomania 2. Hyphal Comings and Goings

by Elio
Until a few decades ago, mushrooms were thought of being some kind of plants. We now know that they belong to their own kingdom, the Mycota (or: Fungi). They typically consist of caps and stems that arise from a microscopic network residing underground or in rotting trees. Read more →

Fungomania 1. Who's The Biggest?

by Elio
Anyone can freely claim bragging rights for their favorite topic, but with caution. In this light, the assertion that a mushroom growing in either Michigan or Oregon is both the largest and oldest living thing is questionable. Read more →

How is Light Made? – A Snippet

by Elio | Ever since as children we saw fireflies emitting light at night, we ranked luminescence high in excitement of natural phenomena. We learned later that other kinds of living things, such as bacteria, protists, fungi, insects, and many others, are also capable of emitting light. Read more →

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 →