Mycology

jupyter_rain , in Antarctic fungi survive Martian conditions on the International Space Station
@jupyter_rain@discuss.tchncs.de avatar

So a high percentage of cells remained intact. Does that mean the fungi can reproduce on mars? Could they thrive?

Scubus ,

Theres a lot of other factors, but to be very reductionist: in theory yes.

It depends on how accurately the environment was simulated, which includes things such as gravity, protection from cosmic rays(or lack thereof), potentially magnetic fields, light spectrum, etc. It's very difficult to replicate all environmental factors in a lab.

But the biggest concern is that I doubt they have access to a food/energy supply, unless they are photosynthetic, and even that requires things such as oxygen and water which you would be hard pressed to find in a usable form of Mars.

Also, the soil contains perchlorates which are very bad for life as we know it.

jupyter_rain ,
@jupyter_rain@discuss.tchncs.de avatar

Hey thanks for this very detailed and interesting answer! :)

benjhm ,

Perchlorates in martian soil ?? potential source of energy and oxygen! Rule of thumb - if a reaction is thermodynamically favourable, but there's some kinetic barrier, some microbes could evolve to exploit it. Life doesn't have to be as we know it.

beckerist , in P. monoica
EmergMemeHologram ,

That is so incredibly cool!

Terrifying. But cool!

JoMomma ,

Damn nature, you scary

ElderWendigo ,
@ElderWendigo@sh.itjust.works avatar

The bees feed on a sweet, sticky substance similar to nectar that the fungus forces the plant to produce on the imitation flowers.

So, mushroom honey is possible. I wonder if it tastes good.

DaFuqs , in P. monoica

Neat

plinky , in P. monoica
@plinky@hexbear.net avatar

Good thing we are on speaking terms with fungi 💀

hallettj , in P. monoica
@hallettj@beehaw.org avatar

Pseudoflowers?? That sounds like quite an elaborate adaptation! I suppose that's to co-opt pollinators to spread spores?

bevan , in P. monoica

There are a lot of fungi that might be the genus "P."! This is Puccinia monoica a rust fungus.

kunegis ,

Thanks! It's a pet peeve of mine when people use an abbreviated genus name without having written the full genus name first.

WalrusByte , in Phaeocalicium polyporaeum "fairy pins"
@WalrusByte@lemmy.world avatar

It's a fungus-eat-fungus world out there

Hegar , in Phaeocalicium polyporaeum "fairy pins"
@Hegar@kbin.social avatar

So cute!

How do they affect the host - are they particularly damaging, what exactly are they eating? I tried searching but couldn't find a lot of detail.

vinter OP ,

Good question - I don't think they're damaging to the host, but it is hard to find good info

JoeKis , in Phaeocalicium polyporaeum "fairy pins"

Hey, I heard you like fungi, so I put fungi on your fungi 🍄²

Jojowski ,
@Jojowski@sopuli.xyz avatar

Or as the badger would say, mushroom mushroom!

NoIWontPickaName ,

Oh no! A snake!

WelcomeBear , in Phaeocalicium polyporaeum "fairy pins"

Great, now I’m gonna be looking even more like a crazy person when walking in the woods, as I crawl around sticking my face up to every Turkey Tail (Trametes Versicolor) that I pass looking for these. Jk, thanks for sharing!

vinter OP ,

You'll have more luck checking Trichaptum - I've never found them on Trametes yet.
There's also a similar looking species, Gliocladium polyporicola, which grows on Stereum hirsutum, so may as well check all the small shelf fungi!

Sacabambaspis , in Stereum lobatum by Barbora Batokova

Nice pic.

Enkers , in Quantitative pathogenicity and host adaptation in a fungal plant pathogen revealed by whole-genome sequencing - Nature Communications

Sounds interesting, but after reading the abstract, I'm no closer to understanding the title than when I started. Could anybody with domain specific knowledge give us a little ELI5?

The_v ,

ELI5.

In plant/pathogen interactions there are two main groups of resistance.

Qualitative- A few genes that inhibit the pathogen almost completely. The pathogen is classified by these resistant genes into races. This is the type of genetics most of you learned with Punnet Squares in school.

Quantitative- what this paper is about. Many genes act in an complex interlinked fashion to control a disease. These genes can be located in groups or scattered around the genome. This has made creating usable molecular markers extremely difficult for breedings efforts. Traditionally you figure out molecular markers by running a few thousand of them and then using statistical models to correlate where the observed phenotype is linked to in the genome. It works really well for 1-2 gene traits. Not very well for 10+ gene traits.

This is basically the researchers saying "fuck it" we'll just sequence the entire genomes to figure this one out.

Sal Mod , in Staghorn fungi photo by desassessor

Thought it was Cordcyceps from the thumbnail. Cool staghorn!

EndMilkInCrisps , in Staghorn fungi photo by desassessor
@EndMilkInCrisps@hexbear.net avatar

"Staghorn" so antler?

quinacridone OP , in Ophiocordyceps clavulata, some info and pictures!
@quinacridone@lemmy.ml avatar
SturgiesYrFase ,
@SturgiesYrFase@lemmy.ml avatar

This whole post has been really neat. Thanks so much!

quinacridone OP ,
@quinacridone@lemmy.ml avatar

You're welcome and thanks for the feedback!

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • random
  • mycology@mander.xyz
  • test
  • worldmews
  • mews
  • All magazines