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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Chorioactis is a genus of fungus that contains the single species Chorioactis geaster; the mushroom is commonly known as the devil’s cigar or the Texas star in the United States, while in Japan it is called kirinomitake (キリノミタケ).

This extremely rare mushroom is notable for its unusual appearance and disjunct distribution: it is only found only in select locales in Texas and Japan. The fruit body, which grows on the stumps or dead roots of cedar elms (in Texas) or dead oaks (in Japan), somewhat resembles a dark brown or black cigar before it splits open radially into a starlike arrangement of four to seven leathery rays. The interior surface of the fruit body bears the spore-bearing tissue known as the hymenium, and is colored white to brown, depending on its age. Fruit body opening can be accompanied by a distinct hissing sound and the release of a smoky cloud of spores.

Fruit bodies were first collected in Austin, Texas in 1893, and the species was named Urnula geaster; it was later found in Kyushu in 1937, but the mushroom was not reported again in Japan until 1973. Although the new genus Chorioactis was proposed to accommodate the unique species a few years after its original discovery, it was not until 1968 that it was accepted as a valid genus. Its classification has also been a source of confusion. Historically, Chorioactis was placed in the fungus family Sarcosomataceae, despite inconsistencies in the microscopic structure of the ascus, the saclike structure in which spores are formed. Phylogenetic analyses of the past decade have clarified the fungus's classification: Chorioactis, along with three other genera, make up the family Chorioactidaceae, a grouping of related fungi formally acknowledged in 2008. In 2009, Japanese researchers reported discovering a form of the fungus missing the sexual stage of its life cycle; this asexual state was named Kumanasamuha geaster.

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Strobilomyces foveatus is a little-known species of fungus in the family Boletaceae. It was first reported by mycologist E.J.H. Corner in 1972, from specimens he collected in Malaysia in 1959, and has since been found in Australia. Fruit bodies are characterized by the small dark brown to black conical scales covering the cap, and the net-like pattern of ridges on the upper stem. The roughly spherical spores measure about eight micrometres, and are densely covered with slender conical spines. The edibility of this species is unknown.

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Credit: Noodle snacks

A Mycena sp. growing from moss, photographed in Mount Field National Park, Tasmania, Australia.

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Did you know?

... that the bleeding tooth fungus secretes a red juice that contains an anticoagulant similar in biological activity to heparin?
... that the pinwheel Marasmius releases its spores in response to rain, rather than circadian rhythm like other mushrooms?
... that the royal fly agaric was the German Mycological Society's "Mushroom of the Year" in 2000?
... that the fungal genus Polytolypa is known from a single specimen found growing on dung of the North American porcupine?
... that only eastern Northern American strains of the bitter oyster, a widely distributed mushroom species, are bioluminescent?

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General images - show new batch

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

Image 1Ferula mushroom in Bingöl, Turkey . This is an edible type of mushroom. (from Mushroom)
Image 2
Lichen covered rocks
(from Marine fungi)
Image 3Fungi within Ascomycota form ascogonium and antheridium with trichogyne bridge (from Mating in fungi)
Image 4
Driftwood
(from Marine fungi)
Image 5Psychotropic mushroom Amanita muscaria, commonly known as "fly agaric" (from Mushroom)
Image 6Psilocybe zapotecorum, a hallucinogenic mushroom (from Mushroom)
Image 7
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 8Maitake, a polypore mushroom (from Mushroom)
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 10Mushrooms are considered a kind of fungal reproductive organ. (from Mycology)
Image 11Close-up cross section of mushroom. (from Mushroom)
Image 12Morphological diversity of fungi collected from a marine sponge species, Ircinia variabilis (from Marine fungi)
Image 13Common 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 14Oral candidiasis (from Fungal infection)
Image 15A mushroom (probably Russula brevipes) parasitized by Hypomyces lactifluorum resulting in a "lobster mushroom" (from Mushroom)
Image 16The blue gills of Lactarius indigo, a milk-cap mushroom (from Mushroom)
Image 17Ganoderma lingzhi (from Mushroom)
Image 18Tinea corporis (from Fungal infection)
Image 19Boletus edulis, also known as "cep", is an edible wild bolete found in Europe (from Mushroom)
Image 20
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 21Morphological characteristics of the caps of mushrooms (from Mushroom)
Image 22Phylogenetic and symbiogenetic tree of living organisms, showing a view of the origins of eukaryotes and prokaryotes (from Marine fungi)
Image 23Culinary mushrooms in a diversity of shapes and colors (from Mushroom)
Image 24Agaricus bisporus, one of the most widely cultivated and consumed mushrooms (from Mushroom)
Image 25Agaricus bitorquis mushroom emerging through asphalt concrete in summer (from Mushroom)
Image 26Fungi within Zygomycota form progametangia with suspensors during mating (from Mating in fungi)
Image 27Ling Zhi-8, an immunomodulatory protein isolated from Ganoderma lucidum (from Medicinal uses of fungi)
Image 28Pityriasis versicolor (from Fungal infection)
Image 29Morchella elata asci viewed with phase contrast microscopy (from Mushroom)
Image 30Typical mating fusion of two compatible monokaryons in Basidiomycota (from Mating in fungi)
Image 31The photochemistry of vitamin D₂ biosynthesis (from Medicinal uses of fungi)
Image 32Young Amanita phalloides "death cap" mushrooms, with a matchbox for size comparison (from Mushroom)
Image 33There are over 100 psychoactive mushroom species of genus Psilocybe native to regions all around the world. (from Mushroom)
Image 34Group photograph taken at a meeting of the British Mycological Society in 1913 (from Mycology)
Image 35Salmon with fungal disease (from Marine fungi)
Image 36Agaricus 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 37The red yeast rice fungus, Monascus purpureus, can synthesize three statins. (from Medicinal uses of fungi)
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 39Onychomycosis (from Fungal infection)
Image 40Yellow flower pot mushrooms (Leucocoprinus birnbaumii) at various states of development (from Mushroom)
Image 41Amanita 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 42A tinder fungus, Fomes fomentarius (from Mushroom)
Image 43Neurospora 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 44Amanita jacksonii buttons emerging from their universal veils (from Mushroom)
Image 45
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 46Eumycetoma (from Fungal infection)