Been studying plant-fungal interactions for about 10 years, including a master's degree I dropped out of and never actually finished* so I'm full of fungus facts i don't really get to use ever.

*Actually did all the course work and lab work but didn't finish my thesis in time

    • notwikinotbot [comrade/them]
      ·
      4 years ago
      • Fungi have more than two sexes.
      • They can form anastomoses where different fungal "individuals" can fuse hyphae together and merge and become one (so how do you define an individual???).
      • There are fungi that can parasitize other fungi.
      • They can make a shit ton of weird chemicals.
      • They can change a plant's interaction with its environment (for example, some can make their hosts more tolerant to salt, heat, drought, etc).
      • SirLotsaLocks [he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        They can change a plant’s interaction with its environment (for example, some can make their hosts more tolerant to salt, heat, drought, etc).

        that's comepletely wild

        • notwikinotbot [comrade/them]
          ·
          4 years ago

          Annnnd a lot of the endophytes that do that are in the same group as Claviceps purpurea, aka ergot fungus, our friend that makes the ergotamine that we can turn into LSD.

          But we (humans) hate them because they can make our cows sick or something.