amoebas that produce macroscopic fruiting bodies
Fungi appear in the news with surprising frequency. However, many of those stories do not provide any new information. Below is a summary of what we’ve learned about fungi from November 2016 Through February 2017. Read below to learn about: bacteria-fungal interactions, snake fungal disease, psilocybin research, fungal furniture, white-nose syndrome, intelligent slime molds and more! Visit the associated links to get the full story.
Fungi appear in the news with surprising frequency. However, many of those stories do not provide any new information. Below is a summary of what we’ve learned about fungi from November 2016 Through February 2017. Read below to learn about: mycorrhizas, A. bisporus engineering, fungal evolution, psilocybin research, fungal concerns in medicine, rock-eating fungi, and more! Visit the associated links to get the full story.
“Hair Growing on Wood – Believe it or Not” proclaimed one of the exhibits at the Ripley’s Believe it or Not pavilion during the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago. The curious organism on display was Stemonitis fusca, which belongs to a group of organisms commonly known as “Chocolate Tube Slime Molds” or “Pipe Cleaner Slime Molds.” However, thanks to its moment of fame 82 years ago, “Tree Hair” is also an acceptable common name for these species.
On this first anniversary of Fungus Fact Friday, I would like to introduce a new topic which I have labeled, “That’s Not a Fungus!” Kingdom Fungi has gone through a lot of changes over the years. Many organisms that were once included in the kingdom have since been exiled. There are two reasons why I think these organisms are worth discussing in FFF. First, they were once studied by mycologists, in some cases contributing more to our understanding of fungi than the fungi themselves. Second, it is important to know what a fungus is as well as what a fungus is not. Slime molds are no longer considered fungi because really the only things those two groups have in common are a similar life cycle and “strange” fruiting bodies. Slime molds do not have cell walls and grow as neither hyphae nor yeast. They also engulf (phagocytose) their food before...
![#011: Characteristics of Kingdom Fungi [Archived]](https://www.fungusfactfriday.com/wp-content/themes/hueman/assets/front/img/thumb-small-empty.png)
