How filamentous fungi sense food

A team led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley used a multi-omics approach to reconstruct and model gene regulatory pathways used by the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa, and to identify and decide ...

Viruses reprogram cells into different virocells

If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, so the adage goes, it must be a duck. But if the duck gets infected by a virus so that it no longer looks or quacks like one, is it still a duck? For a team led by researchers ...

Expanding virophage diversity

Virophages are small viruses with double-stranded DNA genomes that co-infect eukaryotic cells along with giant viruses. Almost all known virophage genomes share only four genes in common: major and minor capsid proteins (MCP ...

Fishing for novel cellulose degraders

One of the most vital pieces of equipment for fly fishing is a boxful of lures. Designed with feathers or wires to mimic an insect or a particular movement, each of these lures are the bait designed to attract specific catches. ...

Triggering morel fruiting

Morels are economically, culturally, and ecologically important fungi, widely prized as a culinary delicacy, but also because they influence geochemical cycling in forest ecosystems. By deciphering the fruiting-related decomposition ...

A step toward controlling soybean rust

The United States is the world's leading soybean producer, and soybeans are used to produce biodiesel. The fungus Phakopsora pachyrhizi causes Asian Soybean Rust (ASR) and is the major pathogen of soybean. Left uncontrolled, ...

What happens underground influences global nutrient cycles

Through the Facilities Integrating Collaborations for User Science (FICUS) program, two Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science national user facilities—the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) and the ...

Fungus fuels tree growth

The fungus Mortierella elongata enjoys a dual lifestyle; it can thrive in the soil as a saprophyte, living off decaying organic matter, or as an endophyte, living between a plant's root cells. The fungus is almost always ...

page 4 from 19