In the HBO series "The Last of Us," named after the popular video game of the same name, the flour supplies of the world are contaminated with a fungus called Cordyceps. When people eat pancakes or other foods made with that ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 8, 2023
0
2
There are up to 10,000 fungal spores in every cubic meter of air that can enter our bodies when we breathe them in. Some of these belong to the species Aspergillus fumigatus, a widespread fungus found everywhere in the environment.
Biochemistry
Feb 28, 2023
0
228
Entomophthora muscae is a widespread, pathogenic fungus that survives by infecting common houseflies with deadly spores. Now, research shows that the fungus has a unique tactic to ensure its survival. The fungus "bewitches" ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 15, 2022
2
4268
A combined team of researchers from the University of Copenhagen and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences reports that a certain fungus uses chemicals to trick male flies into mating with infected dead females. ...
Fungal spores responsible for bitter rot disease, a common and devastating infection in fruit, do not encounter their host plants by chance. Turns out, they have a symbiotic association with the plant, often living inside ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 14, 2020
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6
Cabbage plants defend themselves against herbivores and pathogens by deploying a defensive mechanism called the mustard oil bomb: when the plant tissue is damaged, toxic isothiocyanates are formed and can effectively fend ...
Biotechnology
Jun 19, 2020
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46
A team of researchers from the Technical University of Denmark, the University of Copenhagen and Wageningen University and Research has built a tiny biomimetic 'soft cannon' to better understand how fungal spores are dispersed. ...
The fungus Aspergillus fumigatus is everywhere, and is extremely dangerous for people with weakened immune systems. It occurs virtually everywhere on Earth, as a dark grey stain on damp walls or in microscopically small spores ...
Biochemistry
Feb 8, 2019
0
7
Selfish genes are genes that are passed on to the next generation but confer no advantage on the individual as a whole, and may sometimes be harmful. Researchers at Uppsala University have, for the first time, sequenced (or ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Oct 15, 2018
0
5
UConn researchers recently documented in Nature Scientific Reports a gory and fascinating relationship between periodical cicadas and a fungus that infects them, hijacks their behavior, and causes a scene straight out of ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 22, 2018
0
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