Fungi are a major eukaryotic lineage studied across biological topics for their distinct cellular organization, ecological roles, and interactions with other organisms. They possess chitinous cell walls, typically form filamentous hyphae organized into mycelia, and reproduce via diverse sexual and asexual spores. Fungi function as principal decomposers of organic matter, key symbionts in mycorrhizal and lichen associations, and potent pathogens of plants, animals, and humans. Their metabolic versatility underpins numerous biotechnological and research applications, including model systems for genetics and cell biology, production of enzymes and secondary metabolites, and regulation of nutrient cycling in ecosystems.
Some species of termites are known to cultivate their own crops of fungus within their nests, similar to the way humans maintain farms to feed people. One such species is Odontotermes obesus, which cultivates the fungus Termitomyces. ...
The yeast fungus Candida albicans not only uses the toxin candidalysin to cause infections, but also to colonize the oral mucosa inconspicuously—but only in finely balanced amounts. Too little toxin prevents oral colonization, ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 26, 2025
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Subways don't just bring people together. They're also a hub of microbial activity, including fungi. Over the course of a year, an international team of researchers collected air samples from 15 stations in the Beijing subway ...
Ecology
Sep 25, 2025
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In a study published in the New Phytologist, researchers from the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences synthesized decades of research on fungicides through a global meta-analysis, ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 10, 2025
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When the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans gets caught by its fungal predator Arthrobotrys oligospora, it doesn't just wriggle endlessly—it suddenly "freezes," stopping all movement and feeding as if going into a deep ...
Ecology
Sep 9, 2025
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59
Researchers from Academia Sinica, Taiwan and the Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen, Germany, have revealed how the nematode gene nhr-66 controls the production of cuticular collagens that enable predatory fungi to ...
Evolution
Sep 2, 2025
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24
Genomes contain the complete library of information required to build and maintain a living organism—the figurative blueprints of life. In eukaryotes, genomes are stored in the nuclei, where they are organized into chromosomes. ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Aug 28, 2025
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University of Minnesota researchers are studying the use of fungi as a tool to control invasive buckthorn, a problematic species that crowds out native plants and persistently degrades forests in the Midwest and Northeast.
Plants & Animals
Aug 27, 2025
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Clothing that adapts to one's needs and senses the external habitat. A lunar lava tunnel that uses bacteria, plants and fungi to create sustainable human habitats within otherwise unlivable places. Buildings grown from living ...
Biotechnology
Aug 25, 2025
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Corn is one of the most valuable cash crops globally, with annual grain production in the United States alone valued at nearly $80 billion. Fungicides are widely used to protect crops and promote yield, but research published ...
Ecology
Aug 21, 2025
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