Beware of Fungi in Flour: It Won’t Turn You Into a Zombie, but It Can Make You Sick
Pancakes won’t turn you into a zombie as in HBO’s ‘The Last of Us,’ but fungi in flour have been making people sick for a…
Fungi News
Wood-Wide Web: Do Forest Trees Really “Talk” Through Underground Fungi?
University of Alberta expert challenges popular claims about the “wood-wide web.” The idea that forest trees can “talk” to each other, share resources with their…
Shaking Up Our Understanding: Ethereal Variant of Mysterious Plant Is Actually a New Species
It was once thought that green leaves and photosynthesis were essential for plants, however, some plants have evolved to obtain their nutrients from other organisms…
Understanding the Mystifying Function That Fungi Play in Ecosystems
New scientific review analyzes what we know about how fungi disperse. When you say “fungi,” most people think of mushrooms, the fleshy fruiting bodies above…
Psychedelic Sorcery: How Do Mushrooms Become Magic?
New research examines why some fungi evolve psychedelic properties. Psychedelic compounds found in ‘magic mushrooms’ are increasingly being recognized for their potential to treat important…
Two Genes Crucial for Plants Colonizing the Earth 470 Million Ago Have Been Identified
Researchers shed new light on how plant life became established on the surface of the Earth Researchers from the University of Copenhagen have shed new…
MIT Scientists Discover Molecules in Mucus That Can Fight Fungal Infection
Harnessing the strength of specialized sugar molecules found in mucus could help researchers develop new antifungal drugs. Candida albicans is a yeast that often lives…
“Microbial Protein” – Fungi-Based Meat Alternatives Can Help Save Earth’s Forests
Substituting 20% of meat from cattle with microbial protein — a meat alternative produced in fermentation tanks — by 2050 could halve deforestation, a new…
How Pathogens Learn To Be Pathogens: Partnerships Between Microbes Lead to Human Disease
New research discovered that the fungus Rhizopus fights back against soil predators and human immune cells by partnering with a bacteria called Ralstonia in a…
Bacterial Superbug MRSA Arose in Hedgehogs Long Before the Use of Antibiotics Began
Scientists have found evidence that a type of the antibiotic resistant superbug MRSA arose in nature long before the use of antibiotics in humans and…
Differentiating Friends From Foes Genetically in Fungal Root Microbiomes
Complex microbial communities inhabit plants and modulate their development. Roots especially, host a wide diversity of micro-organisms – including bacteria and fungi – that directly…
Fungi That Live in the Gut Influence Health and Disease – May Be As Important as Bacteria
Vaccines that balance gut microbial communities may one day be used to improve gastrointestinal health. Bacteria’s role in gut health has received a lot of…
Self-Replicating, Self-Repairing Homes on the Moon and Mars Made of Fungi
Science fiction often imagines our future on Mars and other planets as run by machines, with metallic cities and flying cars rising above dunes of…
Using 10,000 Fungi to Search for New Medical Drugs
An enormous library of products derived from more than ten thousand fungi could help us find new drugs. Researchers from the group of Jeroen den…
Invasion of Zombie Ants in Florida – Fungal Infection Takes Over the Ants’ Brains
Biology Assistant Professor Charissa de Bekker is working to figure out how a fungus is manipulating and killing ants. A zombie invasion is happening in…
Bizarre Species of Stingless Bees Depend on a Complex Fungal Community to Survive
A report published in PLOS ONE describes key roles of various microorganisms in the development of the larvae of Scaptotrigona depilis. Researchers warn that this…
“Artisanal Cheese” Possible – Taming the Wild Cheese Fungus
The fungi that grow on fermented foods strongly influence their tastes, yet the evolutionary origins of those fungi aren’t well understood. Experimental findings published this…
Fungal Enzymes Could Potential Convert Wood Biomass Into Biofuels
An international team of researchers, including scientists from the University of York, has discovered a set of enzymes found in fungi that are capable of…
