Fungus News

April 20, 2025

Top Headlines

Living Fungus-Based Building Material Repairs Itself for Over a Month

Apr. 16, 2025 — Engineers have developed a building material that uses the root-like mycelium of a fungus and bacteria cells. Their results show that this material -- which is manufactured with living cells at low temperatures -- is capable of self-repairing and ...

New Plant Molecule Encourages Plant-Fungi Symbiosis to Improve Crops

Apr. 14, 2025 — Scientists use small peptides to enhance symbiosis between plants and fungi, offering a sustainable alternative to artificial fertilizers. Plant biologists discover new plant molecule, CLE16, as well as a fungal CLE16 mimic, that encourage the ...

A New Tool for Parsing the 'Metabolic Dialogue' Between Microorganisms

Apr. 10, 2025 — Scientists have developed an innovative system -- called MetaFlowTrain -- that allows the study of metabolic exchange and interactions within microbial communities under different environmental ...

Dogs Could Help Predict Valley Fever Spread in Humans

Apr. 10, 2025 — Dogs could help predict valley fever spread in humans. A new study finds a strong correlation between occurrence of dog and human ...

Latest Headlines

updated 8:45am EDT

The New Season of The Last of Us Has a Spore-Ting Chance at Realism

Apr. 7, 2025 — The Last of Us is back on April 13 and this season is more realistic than ever. The trailer for the hit HBO series appears to show the 'zombie fungus' cordyceps infecting humans by releasing ...

Use of Antifungals in Agriculture May Increase Resistance in an Infectious Yeast, Study Suggests

Apr. 1, 2025 — Genomic changes in the infectious yeast Candida tropicalis may play a role in its resistance to antifungals, according to a new study. These genomic ...

Antibiotic Exposure in Infancy May Boost Type 1 Diabetes Risk

Mar. 25, 2025 — Exposure to antibiotics during a key developmental window in infancy can stunt growth of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas and may boost risk of diabetes later in life, new research in mice ...

Time Is Not the Driving Influence of Forest Carbon Storage

Mar. 18, 2025 — It is commonly assumed that as forest ecosystems age, they accumulate and store, or 'sequester,' more ...

New 'Shy' Fungus Found in Old-Growth Forest

Mar. 18, 2025 — Although fungi of the genus Piloderma are common, scientists have now discovered five previously unknown species. One of these is one of the most widely distributed species in Northern Europe, while ...

Breakthrough CRISPR-Based Test Offers Faster, More Accurate Diagnosis for Fungal Pneumonia

Mar. 3, 2025 — Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) is the most common fungal pneumonia in children. But current diagnostic methods can take days an require an ...

Early-Life Gut Microbes May Protect Against Diabetes, Research in Mice Suggests

Mar. 6, 2025 — The microbiome shapes development of insulin-producing cells in infancy, leading to long-term changes in metabolism and diabetes risk, new research ...

Discovery of a Common 'Weapon' Used by Disease-Causing Fungi Could Help Engineer More Resilient Food Crops

Feb. 27, 2025 — The discovery of a powerful 'weapon' used by many disease-causing fungi to infect and destroy major food crop staples, such as rice and corn, could ...

Hidden Allies: Trees and Fungi

Feb. 26, 2025 — Researchers report on the influence of an endophytic fungus of the genus Cladosporium on the defense of black poplars against herbivorous insects. The fungus, which lives inside the leaves, not only ...

Parasitic Orchids Are Healthier

Feb. 19, 2025 — Why have some orchids stopped photosynthesis and become parasites feeding on fungi? Researchers found that in at least one species the transition may be driven by the opportunity -- more than by the ...

Guideline on How to Manage Fungal Infections Caused by Candida

Feb. 14, 2025 — Diseases caused by Candida are among the most common fungal infections worldwide. The new guideline was developed over four years by a team of more than one hundred experts from 35 ...

Fungus 'Hacks' Natural Immune System Causing Neurodegeneration in Fruit Flies

Feb. 13, 2025 — A fungal infection has been shown to trigger a fruit fly's own immune system to destroy brain cells leading to signs of neurodegeneration, a new study has ...

New Fungal Species Named in Honor of Sir David Attenborough Making Zombies of Cave Spiders on the Island of Ireland

Jan. 29, 2025 — A recent study investigated the identity of a fungus found on a spider during filming of the BBC Winterwatch series in Northern ...

Plants More Likely to Be 'Eavesdroppers' Than Altruists When Tapping Into Underground Networks

Jan. 22, 2025 — A new study has used a modelling approach to show that it is unlikely that plants would evolve to warn other plants of impending attack. Instead of using their communication networks to transmit ...

Researchers (Plus Dogs) Discover New Truffle Species

Jan. 17, 2025 — Researchers, citizen scientists and their 'truffle dogs' -- have discovered two new species of truffle. Tuber canirevelatum, meaning the 'dog-found' truffle, was named in honor of ...

Study on Hemp May Lead to More Sustainable Farming Methods

Jan. 14, 2025 — A new study of hemp microbes may lead to more sustainable farming methods, using nature to boost the growth of the plant which has become increasingly popular for its versatile uses: CBD-rich ...

Electric Fungi: The Biobattery That Needs to Be Fed

Jan. 9, 2025 — A battery that needs feeding instead of charging? This is exactly what researchers have achieved with their 3D-printed, biodegradable fungal battery. The living battery could supply power to sensors ...

Blueberries Beware: Powdery Mildew Spreading Across the Globe

Jan. 8, 2025 — Research on fungus spread could help growers predict, monitor and control powdery mildew disease affecting ...

Climate Change Is Accelerating Forest Defoliation by Helping Invasive Species Spread

Jan. 6, 2025 — Computer models predict that hotter, drier conditions in North America will limit the growth of a fungus that normally curbs the spread of the spongy moth, an invasive species that has caused ...

Research Points the Way to Lifesaving Antiparasitic Drugs While Unlocking a Scientific Mystery

Dec. 20, 2024 — A breakthrough in understanding how a single-cell parasite makes ergosterol (its version of cholesterol) could lead to more effective drugs for human leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease that afflicts ...

Nature's Instructions: How Fungi Make a Key Medicinal Molecule

Dec. 18, 2024 — Researchers have decoded the genetic blueprint of Penicillium citrinum, a common citrus mold, to uncover how nature produces cyclopentachromone -- a key building block for bioactive compounds with ...

Study Assesses Virulence of Cryptococcus Strains, Laying Groundwork for Improved Treatment

Dec. 16, 2024 — A lab has completed a six-year study to examine the virulence of 38 clinical isolates from various strains of ...

Scientists 'Turn Up the Heat' on Understanding Coffee Wilt Disease Which Threatens Our Favorite Daily Brew

Dec. 5, 2024 — Scientists have 'turned up the heat' on how repeated outbreaks of coffee wilt disease threatened arabica and robusta varieties of our favorite daily coffee brew. The scientists say the ...

Historic Outbreaks of Coffee Wilt Disease Linked to Gene Transfer from Another Fungus

Dec. 5, 2024 — The fungus that causes coffee wilt disease repeatedly took up segments of DNA from a related fungal pathogen, which contributed to successive outbreaks of the disease, according to a new ...

Peat-Bog Fungi Produce Substances That Kill Tuberculosis-Causing Bacteria

Dec. 3, 2024 — An analysis of fungi collected from peat bogs has identified several species that produce substances toxic to the bacterium that causes the human disease tuberculosis. The findings suggest that one ...

Climate Change Could Bring More Severe Bacterial Infections, Including in Corals

Dec. 2, 2024 — Could the fungal apocalypse of The Last of Us have roots in reality? A new study shows that climate warming can potentially make bacterial and fungal infections deadlier for cold-blooded animals like ...

How Fungi Colonize Plant Roots

Nov. 27, 2024 — Researchers have identified two fungal enzymes that hijack the immune system of plants, playing a critical role in the colonization of plant roots. These findings open new avenues for interventions ...

What a Gut Fungus Reveals About Symbiosis and Allergy

Nov. 27, 2024 — A fungus discovered in the mouse stomach may hold a key to fungal evolution within the gastrointestinal tract, according to new research. The finding suggests that preclinical studies until now have ...

Building Roots in Glass, a Bio-Inspired Approach to Creating 3D Microvascular Networks Using Plants and Fungi

Nov. 19, 2024 — Researchers have developed a new bio-inspired approach to building complex 3D microfluidic networks by utilizing plant roots and fungal hyphae as molds. The team grew plants and fungi in ...

Frog Populations Once Decimated by Disease Mount a Major Comeback

Nov. 14, 2024 — Thanks to the consistent and focused efforts of researchers and conservationists to save, then reintroduce, mountain yellow-legged frogs to lakes in Yosemite National Park, their populations are ...