Portal:Fungi

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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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Amanita muscaria, commonly known as the fly agaric or fly Amanita, is a poisonous and psychoactive basidiomycete fungus, one of many in the genus Amanita. Native throughout the temperate and boreal regions of the Northern Hemisphere, Amanita muscaria has been unintentionally introduced to many countries in the Southern Hemisphere, generally as a symbiont with pine plantations, and is now a true cosmopolitan species. It associates with various deciduous and coniferous trees. The quintessential toadstool, it is a large white-gilled, white-spotted, usually deep red mushroom, one of the most recognizable and widely encountered in popular culture. Several subspecies, with differing cap colour have been recognised to date, including the brown regalis (considered a separate species), the yellow-orange flavivolata, guessowii, and formosa, and the pinkish persicina. Genetic studies published in 2006 and 2008 show several sharply delineated clades which may represent separate species.

Although generally considered poisonous, it has been consumed as a food in parts of Europe, Asia, and North America after parboiling in plentiful water. However, Amanita muscaria is now primarily famed for its hallucinogenic properties with its main psychoactive constituent being the compound muscimol. It was used as an intoxicant and entheogen by the peoples of Siberia and has a religious significance in these cultures. There has been much speculation on traditional use of this mushroom as an intoxicant existed beyond Siberia, however, such traditions are far less well-documented. The American banker and amateur ethnomycologist R. Gordon Wasson proposed the fly agaric was in fact the Soma talked about in the ancient Rig Veda texts of India; although this theory has been refuted by anthropologists, it gained common credence when first published in 1968.

The common name in English is thought to have been derived from its European use as an insecticide, when sprinkled in milk. The fly-killing agent is now known to be ibotenic acid. An alternative derivation proposes that the term fly- refers not to insects as such but rather the delirium resulting from consumption of the fungus. This is based on the medieval belief that flies could enter a person's head and cause mental illness.

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Amanita abrupta, commonly known as the abrupt-bulbed lepidella, is a species of fungus in the mushroom family Amanitaceae. Named for the characteristic shape of its fruit bodies, this white Amanita has a slender stem, a cap covered with conical white warts, and an "abruptly enlarged" swollen base. This terrestrial species grows in mixed woods in eastern North America and eastern Asia, where it is thought to exist in a mycorrhizal relationship with a variety of both coniferous and deciduous tree species.

The fruit bodies of Amanita abrupta are poisonous, and ingestion damages the liver; the toxicity is thought to be largely due to a rare amino acid. Although not considered as toxic as its infamous relatives the death cap and the destroying angel, A. abrupta is blamed for the deaths of two Japanese women in 1978. Poisoning symptoms included the abrupt appearance of violent vomiting, diarrhea and dehydration after a delay of 10–20 hours.

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Credit: JJ Harrison

Armillaria hinnulea growing from a log, photographed in Mount Field National Park, Tasmania, Australia.

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Did you know?

... that the edible mushroom Hygrophorus agathosmus smells like almonds?
... that it is uncertain whether the brown and white American star-footed Amanitas are different species?
... that the rare Banksia verticillata is threatened by three fungi – aerial canker, dieback and honey mushroom?
... that the red pigment of the Christmas wreath lichen is one of several chemicals that help the organism survive inhospitable environments?
... that the cap of the suede bolete has soft velvety skin?

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General images - show new batch

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

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