Portal:Fungi

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

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.

More about fungi...

View new selections below (purge)

edit

Selected article

Amanita bisporigera is a deadly poisonous species of fungus in the family Amanitaceae. It is commonly known as the eastern North American destroying angel or the destroying angel, although it shares this latter name with three other lethal white Amanita species, A. ocreata, A. verna and A. virosa. The fruit bodies are found on the ground in mixed coniferous and deciduous forests of Eastern North America south to Mexico, but are rare in western North America; it has also been found in pine plantations in Colombia. The mushroom has a smooth white cap that can reach up to 10 cm (3.9 in) across, and a stem, up to 14 cm (5.5 in) by 1.8 cm (0.71 in) thick, that has a delicate white skirt-like ring near the top. The bulbous stem base is covered with a membranous sac-like volva. The white gills are free from attachment to the stalk and crowded closely together. As the species name suggests, A. bisporigera typically bears two spores on the basidia, although this characteristic is not as immutable as was once thought.

First described in 1906, A. bisporigera is classified in the section Phalloideae of the genus Amanita together with other amatoxin-containing species. Amatoxins are cyclic peptides which inhibit the enzyme RNA polymerase II and interfere with various cellular functions. The first symptoms of poisoning appear 6 to 24 hours after consumption, followed by a period of apparent improvement, then by symptoms of liver and kidney failure, and death after four days or more. Amanita bisporigera closely resembles a few other white amanitas, including the equally deadly A. virosa and A. verna. These species, difficult to distinguish from A. bisporigera based on visible field characteristics, do not have two-spored basidia, and do not stain yellow when a dilute solution of potassium hydroxide is applied. The DNA of A. bisporigera has been partially sequenced, and the genes responsible for the production of amatoxins have been determined.

More selected articles

Read more...

edit

Selected species

Verpa bohemica is a saprobic species of fungus in the family Morchellaceae. Commonly known as the early morel (or early false morel) or the wrinkled thimble-cap, V. bohemica is one of several species known informally as a "false morel". It can be recognized in the field by the pale yellow or brown thimble-shaped wrinkled cap attached to the top of the lighter-colored stem; its distinguishing characteristic is its relatively large spores, typically 60–80 by 15–18 µm. Although widely consumed, edibility is generally not advised due to reports of poisoning in susceptible individuals. The synonym Ptychoverpa bohemica is often used by European mycologists.

More selected species

Read more...

edit

Things to do

If you want to help Wikipedia to improve its coverage of fungi, here are some things you can do...

Assess some fungi articles.
Join Wikipedia:WikiProject Fungi or ask on the talk page.
Join the lichen task force.
Review, improve, expand or clean some of the newly created fungi-related articles.
Expand some high priority fungus stubs.
Expand or sort other fungi-related stubs.
Add images to articles in the list of unillustrated fungi articles, or add more articles to the list.
Write fungi-related articles from scratch. For ideas of needed articles, see the redlinks on-
Review the fungi articles flagged as needing attention.

edit

WikiProjects

WikiProjects related to fungi:

What are WikiProjects?

edit

Selected picture

Credit: JJ Harrison

A cluster of Pholiota malicola, photographed in Meander Forest Reserve, Tasmania, Australia.

More selected pictures

Read more...

edit

Did you know?

... that the bleeding tooth fungus secretes a red juice that contains an anticoagulant similar in biological activity to heparin?
... that the pinwheel Marasmius releases its spores in response to rain, rather than circadian rhythm like other mushrooms?
... that the royal fly agaric was the German Mycological Society's "Mushroom of the Year" in 2000?
... that the fungal genus Polytolypa is known from a single specimen found growing on dung of the North American porcupine?
... that only eastern Northern American strains of the bitter oyster, a widely distributed mushroom species, are bioluminescent?

More Did you know facts

General images - show new batch

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

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