The Magical World of Fungi

UK Fungus Day celebrates an often-forgotten kingdom. An underdog of the natural world if you like. But what makes fungi so special? Stick around to find out.

In 1887 the British mycologist William Hay commented that he who studied fungi “must boldly face a good deal of scorn … and is actually regarded as a sort of idiot among the lower orders”. Even the father of modern taxonomy, Carl Linnaeus avoided classifying individual species of fungi. Linnaeus categorised fungi as “cryptogamia” because he couldn’t find their sexual organs - “crypto” meaning hidden.

So, what are fungi?

With modern science and DNA sequencing, we know that fungi are not really plants at all. In fact, fungi are more closely related to animals. Their cell walls are made from the same material that makes insects exoskeletons – chiten and they don’t make food from photosynthesis like plants but instead, spit out enzymes from their roots (hyphae) and digest the surrounding matter into small enough morsels for their cells to engulf - somewhat like what goes on inside our stomachs when we digest food. Fungi are so different to plants and animals that they could be considered a kingdom of their own. Indeed there are many people advocating that we give fungi a kingdom of their own: Flora, Fauna and Funga, has a certain ring to it.

In fact, the very earth we live on may owe itself to the work of fungal hyphae. A combination of the chemicals that fungi exude and the strength of force its hyphae have allow for the breakdown of rock into soil. Fungi have been breaking down matter like this for around 1.5 billion years.

Somewhere along their evolutionary journey they joined forces with primitive algae or cyanobacteria and created one of nature’s most amazing symbioses - lichen. That’s right, you heard me, lichen are really a partnership between fungi and algae. Algae and cyanobacteria give fungi the power of photosynthesis and in return, they give back the gift of protection from the elements and stability which helps with water absorption. The symbiosis is so rooted in evolution that it has evolved several times in different species and can be recreated easily under laboratory conditions.

The question of “what is a fungi” is different depending on what species you look at. They can be single celled organisms, as in yeast, or multi-cellular. They reproduce clonally (by mitosis) or sexually through meiosis and in many cases, both. Sexual reproduction is itself a minefield, worthy of an entire blog but as our friend Carl Linnaeus found, fungi do not have male and female organs like animals or plants, that is to say, their reproductive cells (gametes) look too similar to distinguish (known as isogamy). So how do they reproduce sexually? Gametes within a fungal hypha or perhaps between different species of fungal hyphae sense that they are of the same species but different enough – scientists call these “mating types” often labelled + or – instead of male and female – and they reproduce by meiosis, forming the cells of the next generation.

In many cases, these cells are born on a mushroom. The mushroom is the fruiting body of a fungi that holds the spores, filled with cells of the next generation, ready to be carried on the wind until they land on the perfect substrate and start to spread their hyphae once again, breaking down the world around them. Did you know we breathe between 1-10 fungal spores with every breathe we take?

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Are fungi even important?

Most people don’t really think of fungi as much more than button mushrooms on their dinner plate. But the society we live in today is surrounded by evidence of the co-evolution between fungi and humans. Every time we butter our bread, we’re getting ready to eat a fungal creation. Bread can’t rise, nor could wine and beer ferment without the help of Saccharomyces cerevisiae or baker’s yeast. Something Louis Pasteur discovered in 1858 but humans have been doing for over 10,000 years.

If that doesn’t do it for you, how about thanking the fungal kingdom for that tasty cheeseboard you enjoy at Christmas. Penicillium camemberti and Penicillium roqueforti are responsible for camembert, brie, Cambozola, Roquefort, Danish blue and many more of our most loved cheeses.

Putting our dinner plates aside and taking a conservation lens, thanks to the work of Dr Suzanne Simard, fungi’s role in our forest ecosystems were recently brought to light. We already knew that some fungi form association with the roots of trees (dubbed mycorrhizal fungi) but Dr Suzanne Simard discovered that there are complex social systems at play underneath our feet. Fungal hyphae link every tree in the forest, protect saplings and offer essential nutrients to trees in return for some of the spare sugars that trees get from photosynthesis. Fungal hyphae may also be the carriers of the chemical alarm signals that are sent by one tree to prepare another for a pest attack and when a tree is on the brink of death, it may use the fungal network to send a substantial share of carbon to its neighbouring trees.

The magic of fungi has caught the modern world by storm, and it seems that fungi are being brought forward as solutions to many of our modern-day problems. Need to eat less meat, get your mycoprotein instead. Need an economic way to insulate homes, use fungal insulation. Looking for sustainable fashion, wear a fungal hat. Buildings, furniture and even plastics are being developed from fungi. And the ability for fungi to break down matter has scientists questioning if we can use them to reduce plastic pollution.

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Fungal conservation starts with recording

With many conservationists focusing their site surveys on botanical interests and animals, very little surveying of fungal diversity is being done in the UK – and that includes in Kent (though this has been improving in recent years). We’re still a long way from knowing all the species in the UK let alone the world and yet we continue to degrade our landscape and pull up fungal ecosystems without much thought – there is little protection for the fungal kingdom in UK law.

What needs to be done? Firstly, we need to get over our mycophobia and start to see the beauty in this weird and wonderful kingdom. Mushrooms for one thing are not to be feared. There are less poisonous mushrooms than there are poisonous plants. And no mushrooms can harm you just by touching them. A good start is to get out and start looking for mushrooms and learning to identify them. Start recording your finds on iRecord or iNaturalist (records normally checked by the county recorder) and help scientists better understand fungal distribution. Learning to identify fungi isn’t an easy task so it helps to have a helping hand. Joining groups like Kent Field Club or posting sightings to the Kent Fungus Group Facebook page can help you learn along the way.

Note about foraging: the other thing to be mindful of is mushroom picking. While mushrooms do reproduce clonally, sexual reproduction is still important in helping species evolve. In such an unpredictable climate, evolution could be the difference between a dying species and a thriving species. Wildlife also rely on many of our fungal species and with an increased number of mushroom pickers, our wildlife could suffer the consequences. We don't encourage picking on our reserves but there are sites where you can, just make sure to check with the landowner as it's illegal to uproot plants without landowners permission.

The tide is turning on our mycophobia and we're coming to appreciate this kingdom, much like ours, it's full of diversity, character and flair. A vital part of our cultural existence, mushrooms are something to be enamoured. Next time you take a walk in the countryside, consider that we may not have soil without fungi, our forest ecosystems may not exist without fungi, the natural world could not as easily be recycled without fungi. Look down and appreciate the hidden kingdom beneath your feet!

By Natasha Aidinyantz

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