Portal:Fungi

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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.

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Galerina marginata is a species of poisonous fungus in the family Hymenogastraceae of the order Agaricales. Prior to 2001, the species G. autumnalis, G. oregonensis, G. unicolor, and G. venenata were thought to be separate due to differences in habitat and the viscidity of their caps, but phylogenetic analysis showed that they are all the same species.

The fruit bodies have brown to yellow-brown caps that fade in color when drying. The gills are brownish and give a rusty spore print. A well-defined membranous ring is typically seen on the stems of young specimens but often disappears with age. In older fruit bodies, the caps are flatter and the gills and stems browner. The species is a classic "little brown mushroom"—a catchall category that includes all small to medium-sized, hard-to-identify brownish mushrooms, and may be easily confused with several edible species.

Galerina marginata is widespread in the Northern Hemisphere, including Europe, North America and Asia, and has also been found in Australia. It is a wood-rotting fungus that grows predominantly on decaying conifer wood. An extremely poisonous species, it contains the same deadly amatoxins found in the death cap (Amanita phalloides). Ingestion in toxic amounts causes severe liver damage with vomiting, diarrhea, hypothermia, and eventual death if not treated rapidly. About ten poisonings have been attributed to the species now grouped as G. marginata over the last century.

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Phallus indusiatus, commonly called in English the bamboo fungus, bamboo pith, long net stinkhorn, crinoline stinkhorn or veiled lady, is a stinkhorn fungus in the family Phallaceae. It has a cosmopolitan distribution in tropical areas, and has been collected in Asia, the Americas, and Africa. The fungus is characterised by a conical to bell-shaped cap on a stipe and a lacy "skirt" that hangs from beneath the cap. Mature fruit bodies are up to 30 cm (12 in) tall with a cap that is 2–4 cm (0.8–1.6 in) long. The cap is covered with a greenish spore-containing slime, which attract flies and other insects that eat the spores and disperse them. It is an edible mushroom used as an ingredient in Chinese haute cuisine; the mushroom is grown commercially and commonly sold in Asian markets. Nutritional analysis has shown that the mushroom is rich in protein, carbohydrates and dietary fiber. The mushroom also contains various bioactive compounds, and has antioxidant and antimicrobial properties.

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Credit: JJ Harrison

The white coral fungus, Ramariopsis kunzei, at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, United States.

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Did you know?

... that the edible fungus Polyozellus multiplex has attracted research interest as a possible chemopreventative agent against stomach cancer?
... that the fungal genus Hericium includes the monkey's head fungus, used in Traditional Chinese medicine?
... that the rust fungus Puccinia jaceae var. solstitialis is the first plant pathogen approved by the United States Department of Agriculture as a biological control agent?
... that the Eyelash Cup normally grows on rotten wood, but can sometimes be found on bracket fungi?
... that the false earthstar in the fungal family Astraeaceae can open and close its rays in response to changes in humidity?

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General images - show new batch

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

Image 1Amanita jacksonii buttons emerging from their universal veils (from Mushroom)
Image 2Oral candidiasis (from Fungal infection)
Image 3Eumycetoma (from Fungal infection)
Image 4
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 5Agaricus bisporus, one of the most widely cultivated and consumed mushrooms (from Mushroom)
Image 6Agaricus bisporus mushroom is a cultivated edible mushroom for foods and has many names such as "champignon", " button mushroom", "white mushroom", and " portobello" (from Mushroom)
Image 7Pennate 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 8
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 9The photochemistry of vitamin D₂ biosynthesis (from Medicinal uses of fungi)
Image 10Chytrid 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 11Culinary mushrooms in a diversity of shapes and colors (from Mushroom)
Image 12Mushrooms are considered a kind of fungal reproductive organ. (from Mycology)
Image 13
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 14There are over 100 psychoactive mushroom species of genus Psilocybe native to regions all around the world. (from Mushroom)
Image 15Typical mating fusion of two compatible monokaryons in Basidiomycota (from Mating in fungi)
Image 16Psilocybe zapotecorum, a hallucinogenic mushroom (from Mushroom)
Image 17Tinea corporis (from Fungal infection)
Image 18Morphological characteristics of the caps of mushrooms (from Mushroom)
Image 19A mushroom (probably Russula brevipes) parasitized by Hypomyces lactifluorum resulting in a "lobster mushroom" (from Mushroom)
Image 20The blue gills of Lactarius indigo, a milk-cap mushroom (from Mushroom)
Image 21Fungi within Ascomycota form ascogonium and antheridium with trichogyne bridge (from Mating in fungi)
Image 22Pityriasis versicolor (from Fungal infection)
Image 23Agaricus bitorquis mushroom emerging through asphalt concrete in summer (from Mushroom)
Image 24Psychotropic mushroom Amanita muscaria, commonly known as "fly agaric" (from Mushroom)
Image 25Ganoderma lingzhi (from Mushroom)
Image 26Young Amanita phalloides "death cap" mushrooms, with a matchbox for size comparison (from Mushroom)
Image 27Fungi within Zygomycota form progametangia with suspensors during mating (from Mating in fungi)
Image 28Ling Zhi-8, an immunomodulatory protein isolated from Ganoderma lucidum (from Medicinal uses of fungi)
Image 29Salmon with fungal disease (from Marine fungi)
Image 30Common puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum) has a glebal hymenium; the interior is white when it is young, but as it matures, the interior becomes brown containing spores (from Mushroom)
Image 31Morchella elata asci viewed with phase contrast microscopy (from Mushroom)
Image 32Workup algorithm of fungal infection at a microbiology lab at a New England community hospital. (from Fungal infection)
Image 33
Lichen covered rocks
(from Marine fungi)
Image 34Ferula mushroom in Bingöl, Turkey . This is an edible type of mushroom. (from Mushroom)
Image 35Neurospora 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 36A tinder fungus, Fomes fomentarius (from Mushroom)
Image 37Phylogenetic and symbiogenetic tree of living organisms, showing a view of the origins of eukaryotes and prokaryotes (from Marine fungi)
Image 38The red yeast rice fungus, Monascus purpureus, can synthesize three statins. (from Medicinal uses of fungi)
Image 39
Driftwood
(from Marine fungi)
Image 40Yellow flower pot mushrooms (Leucocoprinus birnbaumii) at various states of development (from Mushroom)
Image 41Morphological diversity of fungi collected from a marine sponge species, Ircinia variabilis (from Marine fungi)
Image 42Amanita 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 43Close-up cross section of mushroom. (from Mushroom)
Image 44Group photograph taken at a meeting of the British Mycological Society in 1913 (from Mycology)
Image 45Maitake, a polypore mushroom (from Mushroom)
Image 46Boletus edulis, also known as "cep", is an edible wild bolete found in Europe (from Mushroom)
Image 47Onychomycosis (from Fungal infection)