Fungus Fact Friday

Tagged: oomycete

water molds in the order Oomycota

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Fungus Fact / That's Not A Fungus!

#224: Pythium insidiosum, Pythiosis

It’s a new year and already a fungus-like disease is making national headlines.  Four wild ponies on Chincoteague were euthanized due to a disease called “Swamp Cancer” on December 28, 2018, bringing the total Chincoteague ponies killed by the disease in 2018 up to seven.  Swamp Cancer is not a cancer at all; the disease is caused by the oomycete Pythium insidiosum.  If you have a pet you may have heard of this disease before: P. insidiosum occasionally infects dogs and cats, often killing its hosts.  Rarely, P. insidiosum causes disease in humans.  P. insidiosum normally decays plant matter in flooded tropical to sub-tropical environments, so it is most often contracted in warm stagnant water.  Because it reproduces only in those environments, P. insidiosum cannot spread from one animal to another.

#096: The Great Famine of Ireland and Phytophthora infestans 0

Fungus Fact / That's Not A Fungus!

#096: The Great Famine of Ireland and Phytophthora infestans

In celebration of Independence Day, I have decided to discuss a fungus-related event which significantly impacted the history of the United States (Don’t worry; I will get to the remaining mushroom toxins in the next few weeks). America is a country of immigrants, so on the day that we celebrate the founding of our country, it only seems fitting that we take a moment to remember how immigration has shaped our history.

#054: Oomycota (Water Molds and Downy Mildews) 1

Fungus Fact / That's Not A Fungus!

#054: Oomycota (Water Molds and Downy Mildews)

The Oomycota (literally “egg fungi”) are remarkable organisms because they mimic fungi on a cellular level. They are heterotrophic (get energy from their surroundings) organisms, exhibit filamentous growth, digest their substrate before absorbing it, and produce sexual and asexual spores.  For these reasons, the Oomycota were once classified as fungi.  They have since been removed from Kingdom Fungi and placed in Kingdom Protista, Chromista, Straminopila, or whatever name it’s going by today.  That means it is most closely related to diatoms and brown algae (like kelp).  At first this does not seem like a logical grouping because most of these organisms are autotrophic (make their own food).  However, there are a few characteristics of the Oomycota that make them more similar to protists than to fungi.  For one, the Oomycota have cell walls composed of cellulose, glycan, and similar molecules.  Second, they primarily live as diploids (two copies of each...