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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Suillus brevipes is a species of fungus in the family Boletaceae. First described by American mycologists in the late 1800s, it is commonly known as the stubby-stalk or the short-stemmed slippery Jack. The fruit bodies (mushrooms) produced by the fungus are characterized by a chocolate to reddish-brown cap covered with a sticky layer of slime, and a short whitish stem that does not have a partial veil. The cap can reach a diameter of about 10 cm (3.9 in), while the stem is up to 6 cm (2.4 in) long and 2 cm (0.8 in) thick. Like other bolete mushrooms, S. brevipes produces spores in a vertically arranged layer of spongy tubes with openings that form a layer of small yellowish pores on the underside of the cap.

Suillus brevipes grows in a mycorrhizal association with various species of coniferous trees, especially lodgepole and ponderosa pine. The fungus is found throughout North America, and has been introduced to several other countries via transplanted pines. In the succession of mycorrhizal fungi associated with the regrowth of jack pine after clearcutting or wildfires, S. brevipes is a multi-stage fungus, found during all stages of tree development. The mushrooms are edible, and are high in the essential fatty acid linoleic acid.

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Mycena maculata, commonly known as the reddish-spotted Mycena, is a species of fungus in the family Mycenaceae. The fruit bodies, or mushrooms, have conic to bell-shaped to convex caps that are initially dark brown but fade to brownish-gray when young, reaching diameters of up to 4 cm (1.6 in). They are typically wrinkled or somewhat grooved, and have reddish-brown spots in age, or after being cut or bruised. The whitish to pale gray gills also become spotted reddish-brown as they mature. The stem, up to 8 cm (3.1 in) long and covered with whitish hairs at its base, can also develop reddish stains. The mycelium of M. maculata has bioluminescent properties. The saprobic fungus in found in Europe and North America, where it grows in groups or clusters on the rotting wood of both hardwoods and conifers. The edibility of the fungus is unknown. Although the species is known for, and named after its propensity to stain reddish, occasionally these stains do not appear, making it virtually indistinguishable from M. galericulata.

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Credit: Robert Sasata

Lycoperdon pyriforme, a species of puffball, growing on a decaying pine log near La Ronge, Saskatchewan, Canada.

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Did you know?

... that species in the fungal genus Rhodocollybia have spores that are dextrinoid?
... that colonization of mature black spruce trees by jelly drops helps protect them from future infection by rot-causing fungi?
... that Leucopaxillus albissimus, one of the larger mushrooms in the San Francisco Bay Area, has a fruiting body unusually resistant to decay?
... that the whitish powder found on the spore sac of the beaked earthstar is made of crystalline calcium oxalate?
... that the "wrinkled peach" mushroom requires light from the red end of the visible spectrum to induce fruiting?

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General images - show new batch

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

Image 1The blue gills of Lactarius indigo, a milk-cap mushroom (from Mushroom)
Image 2Chytrid 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 3Amanita jacksonii buttons emerging from their universal veils (from Mushroom)
Image 4Morphological diversity of fungi collected from a marine sponge species, Ircinia variabilis (from Marine fungi)
Image 5Morphological characteristics of the caps of mushrooms (from Mushroom)
Image 6Amanita 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 7Morchella elata asci viewed with phase contrast microscopy (from Mushroom)
Image 8Onychomycosis (from Fungal infection)
Image 9
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 10Psychotropic mushroom Amanita muscaria, commonly known as "fly agaric" (from Mushroom)
Image 11
Driftwood
(from Marine fungi)
Image 12Mushrooms are considered a kind of fungal reproductive organ. (from Mycology)
Image 13Close-up cross section of mushroom. (from Mushroom)
Image 14Oral candidiasis (from Fungal infection)
Image 15Ferula mushroom in Bingöl, Turkey . This is an edible type of mushroom. (from Mushroom)
Image 16Eumycetoma (from Fungal infection)
Image 17A mushroom (probably Russula brevipes) parasitized by Hypomyces lactifluorum resulting in a "lobster mushroom" (from Mushroom)
Image 18Agaricus 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 19Ganoderma lingzhi (from Mushroom)
Image 20The photochemistry of vitamin D₂ biosynthesis (from Medicinal uses of fungi)
Image 21Culinary mushrooms in a diversity of shapes and colors (from Mushroom)
Image 22
Lichen covered rocks
(from Marine fungi)
Image 23Psilocybe zapotecorum, a hallucinogenic mushroom (from Mushroom)
Image 24Yellow flower pot mushrooms (Leucocoprinus birnbaumii) at various states of development (from Mushroom)
Image 25There are over 100 psychoactive mushroom species of genus Psilocybe native to regions all around the world. (from Mushroom)
Image 26Boletus edulis, also known as "cep", is an edible wild bolete found in Europe (from Mushroom)
Image 27Agaricus bisporus, one of the most widely cultivated and consumed mushrooms (from Mushroom)
Image 28Salmon with fungal disease (from Marine fungi)
Image 29Young Amanita phalloides "death cap" mushrooms, with a matchbox for size comparison (from Mushroom)
Image 30Neurospora 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 31Agaricus bitorquis mushroom emerging through asphalt concrete in summer (from Mushroom)
Image 32A tinder fungus, Fomes fomentarius (from Mushroom)
Image 33Common 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 34Ling Zhi-8, an immunomodulatory protein isolated from Ganoderma lucidum (from Medicinal uses of fungi)
Image 35
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 36Pityriasis versicolor (from Fungal infection)
Image 37Fungi within Zygomycota form progametangia with suspensors during mating (from Mating in 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 39
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 40Typical mating fusion of two compatible monokaryons in Basidiomycota (from Mating in fungi)
Image 41The red yeast rice fungus, Monascus purpureus, can synthesize three statins. (from Medicinal uses of fungi)
Image 42Fungi within Ascomycota form ascogonium and antheridium with trichogyne bridge (from Mating in fungi)
Image 43Phylogenetic and symbiogenetic tree of living organisms, showing a view of the origins of eukaryotes and prokaryotes (from Marine fungi)
Image 44Tinea corporis (from Fungal infection)
Image 45Group photograph taken at a meeting of the British Mycological Society in 1913 (from Mycology)
Image 46Maitake, a polypore mushroom (from Mushroom)