Fungus News

January 26, 2025

Top Headlines

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 ...

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 varieties are in high demand for pharmaceutical products, ...

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 for agriculture or research in remote regions. ...

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 ...

Latest Headlines

updated 8:48am EST

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 truffle dogs and ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Insect-Killing Fungi Find Unexpected Harmony in War

Nov. 7, 2024 — A new study reveals that two strains of pathogenic fungi unexpectedly divide insect victims amongst themselves rather than aggressively compete for ...

Research Shows Caterpillar Fungus Can Slow Down Growth of Cancer Cells

Nov. 7, 2024 — New research into a chemical produced by a caterpillar fungus that has shown promise as a possible cancer treatment has revealed how it interacts with genes to interrupt cell growth signals. The ...

New Fungal Spore Calendar Helps Allergy and Asthma Sufferers Plan for Better Health

Nov. 7, 2024 — England's first seasonal spore guide offers valuable insights into the potential rise of breathing problems in summer and ...

How Gophers Brought Mount St. Helens Back to Life in One Day

Nov. 6, 2024 — When Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, lava incinerated anything living for miles around. As an experiment, scientists dropped gophers onto parts of the scorched mountain for only 24 hours. The ...

Researchers Enhance Screening Methods to Prevent Spread of Drug-Resistant Fungal Infections in Hospitals

Nov. 1, 2024 — Expanded protocols promote early detection in high-risk patients and prevent hospital outbreaks of Candida ...

Saving the Bats: Researchers Find Bacteria, Fungi on Bat Wings That Could Help Fight Deadly White-Nose Syndrome

Oct. 23, 2024 — Bacteria and fungi from the wings of bats could play a significant role in saving them from white-nose syndrome (WNS), a fungal disease affecting the skin of wings and muzzle, which has nearly wiped ...

Scientists Discover How Fungi Interact With Soil Actinomycetes

Oct. 22, 2024 — In a recent study, researchers investigated the interactions between Pyricularia oryzae, the rice blast fungus, and the beneficial soil bacterium Streptomyces griseus. They found that P. oryzae ...

A Mushroom for Colorectal Cancer Therapy

Oct. 17, 2024 — Novel chemical compounds from a fungus could provide new perspectives for treating colorectal cancer, one of the most common and deadliest cancers worldwide. Researchers have reported on the ...

Soil's Secret Language: Researchers Decode Plant-to-Fungi Communication

Oct. 17, 2024 — Researchers have cracked the code of plant-to-fungi communication in a new study. Using baker's yeast, the researchers discovered that the plant hormone strigolactone (SL) activates fungal genes ...

Do Fungi Recognize Shapes?

Oct. 9, 2024 — Fungi don't have eyes or a brain, but their intelligent behaviors may surprise you. New research suggests that fungi may be able to recognize ...

Ant Agriculture Began 66 Million Years Ago in the Aftermath of the Asteroid That Doomed the Dinosaurs

Oct. 3, 2024 — According to a new study, colonies of ants began farming fungi when an asteroid struck Earth 66 million years ago. This asteroid impact caused a global mass extinction but also created ideal ...

How a Bacterium Becomes a Permanent Resident in a Fungus

Oct. 2, 2024 — An organism as a tenant in another -- in biology, this often works quite well. Researchers have now shed light on how such a partnership of a cell in a cell can establish ...

Bacteria Involved in Gum Disease Linked to Increased Risk of Head and Neck Cancer

Sep. 26, 2024 — More than a dozen bacterial species among the hundreds that live in people's mouths have been linked to a collective 50% increased chance of developing head and neck squamous cell carcinoma ...

Measuring How Much Wood a Wood Shuck Shucks With All-New Wood Shuck Food

Sep. 18, 2024 — Researchers want to transform the natural and abundant resource wood into useful materials, and central to that is a molecular machine found in fungi that decomposes the complex raw material into its ...

Ignore Antifungal Resistance in Fungal Disease at Your Peril, Warn Top Scientists

Sep. 13, 2024 — Without immediate action, humanity will potentially face further escalation in resistance in fungal disease, a group of scientists from the around the world has warned. According to the scientists ...

Tailored Microbe Communities

Sep. 12, 2024 — How can computer models help design microbial communities? Researchers examined the development perspectives of so-called synthetic biology. In a new article, they explain why computer-aided biology ...

Microorganisms Can Travel Long Distances in the Troposphere

Sep. 11, 2024 — Analysis of air samples taken at altitudes of up to 3,000 meters above Japan has revealed the presence of a vast range of viable bacteria and fungi transported by air masses originating more than ...