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 further 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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Hydnellum peckii is an inedible fungus, and a member of the genus Hydnellum of the family Bankeraceae. It is a hydnoid species, producing spores on the surface of vertical spines or tooth-like projections that hang from the undersurface of the fruit bodies. It is found in North America, Europe, and was recently discovered in Iran (2008) and Korea (2010). Hydnellum peckii is a mycorrhizal species, and forms mutually beneficial relationships with a variety of coniferous trees, growing on the ground singly, scattered, or in fused masses.

The fruit bodies typically have a funnel-shaped cap with a white edge, although the shape can be highly variable. Young, moist fruit bodies can "bleed" a bright red juice that contains a pigment known to have anticoagulant properties similar to heparin. The unusual appearance of the young fruit bodies has earned the species several descriptive common names, including strawberries and cream, the bleeding Hydnellum, the bleeding tooth fungus, the red-juice tooth, or the devil's tooth. Although the fruit bodies are readily identifiable when young, they become brown and nondescript when they age.

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Psilocybe semilanceata, commonly known as the liberty cap, is a psychedelic mushroom that contains the psychoactive compounds psilocybin and baeocystin. Liberty caps have a distinctive conical to bell-shaped cap, up to 2.5 centimetres (1.0 in)^* in diameter, with a small nipple-like protrusion on the top. They are yellow to brown in color, covered with radial grooves when moist, and fade to a lighter color as they mature. Their stems tend to be slender and long, and the same color or slightly lighter than the cap. The gill attachment to the stem is adnexed (narrowly attached), and they are initially cream before tinting purple as the spores mature. The spores are dark purplish-brown in mass, ellipsoid, and measure 10.5–15 by 6.5–8.5 micrometers.

The mushroom grows on grassy meadows and similar habitats, particularly in wet, north-facing fields and other habitats well-fertilized by sheep and cattle feces. But unlike P. cubensis and P. coprophila, it does not grow directly on the dung. The species is found in fields where animals graze throughout the cool temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, but it is known primarily from continental Europe, the UK and Ireland. However, it has also been reported occasionally from India, South America, and Australasia. It is the world's most common psychoactive mushroom, and one of the most potent. The mushroom has also been shown to inhibit an antibiotic-resistant form of the human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus, and it may suppress growth of the plant pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi.

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Join Wikipedia:WikiProject Fungi or ask on the talk page.
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Credit: Nathan Wilson

The stinkhorn fungus, Phallus hadriani, photographed in Descanso Gardens, La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States.

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Did you know?

... that the fungus Helvella corium has been found growing on caustic spoil mounds of a soda factory and on uranium tailings?
... that the fungus Helvella acetabulum resembles a cabbage leaf?
... that extracts from the elastic saddle fungus can dissolve fibrin blood clots?
... that the powdery mildew fungus Phyllactinia guttata has gelatinous filaments thought to help it adhere to leaves?
... that the "Devil's Cigar" is a mushroom found only in Texas and Japan?

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General images - show new batch

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

Image 1Morchella elata asci viewed with phase contrast microscopy (from Mushroom)
Image 2Leucocoprinus birnbaumii, commonly known as the "flowerpot parasol", at various stages of development (from Mushroom)
Image 3Pholiota squarrosa growing at the base of a tree (from Mushroom)
Image 4
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 5Morphological diversity of fungi collected from a marine sponge species, Ircinia variabilis (from Marine fungi)
Image 6Coprinopsis atramentaria, commonly known as the "ink cap" (from Mushroom)
Image 7Lycoperdon perlatum (the "common puffball") has a glebal hymenium; when young, the interior is white, but it becomes brown containing powdery spores as the fungus matures. (from Mushroom)
Image 8Ganoderma lingzhi (from Mushroom)
Image 9Amanita muscaria, a psychotropic mushroom commonly known as "fly agaric" (from Mushroom)
Image 10
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 11A mushroom (probably Russula brevipes) parasitized by Hypomyces lactifluorum resulting in a "lobster mushroom" (from Mushroom)
Image 12Chytrid 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 13Salmon with fungal disease (from Marine fungi)
Image 14The photochemistry of vitamin D₂ biosynthesis (from Medicinal uses of fungi)
Image 15Pityriasis versicolor (from Fungal infection)
Image 16Ferula mushroom in Bingöl, Turkey. This is an edible type of mushroom. (from Mushroom)
Image 17Workup algorithm of fungal infection at a microbiology lab at a New England community hospital. (from Fungal infection)
Image 18The blue gills of Lactarius indigo, a milk-cap mushroom (from Mushroom)
Image 19Agaricus bitorquis (the "pavement mushroom") emerging through asphalt concrete in summer (from Mushroom)
Image 20Group photograph taken at a meeting of the British Mycological Society in 1913 (from Mycology)
Image 21Young Amanita phalloides "death cap" mushrooms, with a matchbox for size comparison (from Mushroom)
Image 22Close-up cross section of mushroom gills (from Mushroom)
Image 23Maitake, a polypore mushroom (from Mushroom)
Image 24Eumycetoma (from Fungal infection)
Image 25
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 26Agaricus bisporus, a cultivated edible mushroom with various names including "button mushroom", "portobello" and "champignon" (from Mushroom)
Image 27Psilocybe zapotecorum, a hallucinogenic mushroom (from Mushroom)
Image 28Ling Zhi-8, an immunomodulatory protein isolated from Ganoderma lucidum (from Medicinal uses of fungi)
Image 29
Driftwood
(from Marine fungi)
Image 30A tinder fungus, Fomes fomentarius (from Mushroom)
Image 31Morphological characteristics of the caps of mushrooms (from Mushroom)
Image 32Amanita 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 33Pennate 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 34Tinea corporis (from Fungal infection)
Image 35Neurospora 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 36Fungi within Ascomycota form ascogonium and antheridium with trichogyne bridge (from Mating in fungi)
Image 37Mature Mycena leaiana, a kind of Mushroom, in Mount Field National Park. (from Mycology)
Image 38Amanita jacksonii buttons emerging from their universal veils (from Mushroom)
Image 39There are over 100 psychoactive mushroom species of genus Psilocybe native to regions all around the world. (from Mushroom)
Image 40The red yeast rice fungus, Monascus purpureus, can synthesize three statins. (from Medicinal uses of fungi)
Image 41Onychomycosis (from Fungal infection)
Image 42Phylogenetic and symbiogenetic tree of living organisms, showing a view of the origins of eukaryotes and prokaryotes (from Marine fungi)
Image 43Oral candidiasis (from Fungal infection)
Image 44
Lichen covered rocks
(from Marine fungi)
Image 45Boletus edulis, also known as "cep", an edible wild bolete found in Europe (from Mushroom)
Image 46Agaricus bisporus, one of the most widely cultivated and consumed mushrooms (from Mushroom)
Image 47Typical mating fusion of two compatible monokaryons in Basidiomycota (from Mating in fungi)
Image 48Fungi within Zygomycota form progametangia with suspensors during mating (from Mating in fungi)