Marriage of convenience with a fungus

Thanks to a fungus, the medicinal plant ribwort plantain gains a higher concentration of the defensive compound catalpol. Biologists at Bielefeld University report this discovery in a study to be published today in the scientific ...

Symbiosis: enforced surrender?

Scientists from INRA and Lorraine University in France unraveled a key mechanism in the symbiosis between fungi and trees. During this mutually beneficial interaction, the fungus takes control of its host plant by injecting ...

Get touchy feely with plants

Forget talking to plants to help them grow, gently rubbing them with your fingers can make them less susceptible to disease, a paper in the open access journal BMC Plant Biology reveals.

Fungi collection key in identifying diseases

A collection of fungi maintained by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) played a crucial role in helping scientists identify the specific fungus causing an anthracnose disease discovered in a southern turf grass, and ...

Sexual reproduction only second choice for powdery mildew

Powdery mildew is one of the most dreaded plant diseases: The parasitic fungus afflicts crops such as wheat and barley and is responsible for large harvest shortfalls every year. Beat Keller and Thomas Wicker, both plant ...

Fungal genome offers clues on how leaf-cutter ants farm

Leaf-cutter ants are well-known examples of insects that use microbes to gain access to nutrients, farming "gardens" in which bacteria and fungi break down plant mass. In an article featured on the cover of the June 2013 ...

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