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When talking about fungi, what do you think of? Is it a bunch of chubby brown mushrooms, or some big mushrooms with red caps.
.
.
When this picture appears in your mind, what you think of is actually the fungus's genitals-usually delicious, unique-looking parts.
Wild mushrooms.
| Image source: TomaszProszek & 557453 / Pixabay fungi are a fascinating creature.
They are neither plants nor animals.
They have their own unique biological kingdom.
It is estimated that this kingdom is composed of approximately 2 to 6 million species.
Although they look very different from us, one thing is the same, that is, fungi also need to find food and solve problems in the environment in which they live.
The main body of the fungus is actually mycelium, which is a huge intertwined network composed of very thin hyphae.
Mycelium is a bit like the root of a plant.
They move with the growth of fungi and actively explore the surrounding environment in order to find nutrients.
Mycelium is very thin.
Specifically, the thickness of human hair is about 50 microns, while the thickness of fungal hyphae is usually only 2 to 3 microns.
Shown in the picture is a hair with a thickness of 50 microns and a filament with a thickness of 6 microns.
The width of the mycelium is only 2 to 3 microns.
| Image source: Saperaud/wikicommons Fungi are vital to the nutrient cycle in nature.
They decompose and recycle the dead biomass in the environment, providing water for about 90% of the roots of land plants And nutrition; they can also cause troubles, such as causing diseases in humans, animals and plants, and causing damage to a large number of agricultural products. However, because fungi usually grow in soil, wood, or other animal and plant tissues, these environments are places that we can’t see.
Therefore, scientists have always known little about the behavior of hyphae in natural environments.
They don’t know about fungi.
Whether they have the ability to feel that there is food nearby, or whether they will use any strategy to find food.
Recently, in a new study, biologists have investigated the growth of mycelium, foraging behavior, and the way mycelium explores space by manufacturing and designing some miniature "soil chips".
In the experiment, they observed 7 different fungal hyphae for research and observed how they grow in space.
This time, the researchers created a transparent microfluidic chip system composed of microchannels.
The structure designed on the chip can simulate the situation that fungi face when growing in the soil, such as some hyphae that need to pass through when growing.
Narrow passages, sharp turns, and maze-like obstacles.
Obstacles on the soil chip designed by the experiment.
Image source: Edith Hammer et.
al.
Researchers designed several obstacles in the chip.
Some channels with a width of 4-20 microns correspond to narrow channels for fungal hyphae to pass through in the soil; some sudden openings The design is to simulate some larger pores in the soil; some corner designs are to check the "willingness" of the mycelium to "turn around" to grow to itself.
In addition to a single inspection, the researchers put these different challenges together, trying to check whether the mycelium can complete a long list of mixed obstacle challenges.
After the chip is prepared, all the researchers have to do is wait for the fungus to grow in the chip.
This is an exciting process.
Under the microscope, they observed these fungi passing through the chip day after day, over the obstacles they set up.
In plant ecology, the roots of cloned plants are either long and sparse (guerrilla growth type) or short and dense (dense growth type).
However, the researchers were surprised to find that this dichotomy is not applicable to fungi, and for fungi, more classifications are needed.
Long and sparse guerrilla growth type (left); short and dense dense growth type (right).
Image source: Edith Hammer et.
al.
Researchers gave these fungi roots different nicknames according to their different growth strategies.
For example, "marathon runners" describe those with dense growth but very long and straight.
Species that do not require hyphae to explore the surrounding environment; "snakes" are those that grow slowly but can wind around complex bends and corners for months; and those that produce a large number of branches and occupy almost All the free space can break through the "zombies" of the solid part of the chip with incredible power.
The hyphae that break through barriers, researchers call them "zombies.
"
Image source: Edith Hammer et.
al.
Researchers believe that these different strategies may be the result of evolution.
For example, the intensive growth strategy allows the fungus to decompose complex foods that require a large amount of concentrated enzymes to obtain, while the strategy of exploring far away helps the fungus to find the short-lived food scattered in the distance more quickly.
One of the simplest "soil chip" tests in the experiment.
The fungal hyphae are explored from left to right and it is easy to clear obstacles.
| Image source: Edith Hammer et.
al.
They also found that in some cases it is difficult for fungi to survive.
For example, repeated sharp turns will cause some hyphae to be trapped in corners, and some will go around circular obstacles.
Lost direction afterwards.
The "snake" that was forced into a blind spot.
Image source: Edith Hammer et.
al.
Researchers are particularly interested in barriers that hinder the growth of fungi.
This is because soil is the largest terrestrial carbon pool on the planet, and small changes in the carbon cycle in the soil may cause huge differences in the level of CO₂ in the atmosphere.
Understanding how soil structure affects fungal growth may give us an understanding of how to optimize soil to sequester carbon—helping us store more CO₂ underground.
Researchers hope that this soil chip can continue to be used to monitor the secret life of fungi.
Their research only observed seven different fungi that can decompose garbage, so there is enough room to make new discoveries.
They hope that by revealing the behavior of underground fungi when foraging and growing, they can understand what impact they will have on the ecosystem on the ground, so that it is possible to obtain information that can help us cope with climate change.
# Creation team: compilation:#Reference source: https://theconversation.
com/the-secret-life-of-fungi-how-they-use-ingenious-strategies-to-forage-underground-156610https:// #Image source: cover image: Edith Hammer et.
al.
.
.
When this picture appears in your mind, what you think of is actually the fungus's genitals-usually delicious, unique-looking parts.
Wild mushrooms.
| Image source: TomaszProszek & 557453 / Pixabay fungi are a fascinating creature.
They are neither plants nor animals.
They have their own unique biological kingdom.
It is estimated that this kingdom is composed of approximately 2 to 6 million species.
Although they look very different from us, one thing is the same, that is, fungi also need to find food and solve problems in the environment in which they live.
The main body of the fungus is actually mycelium, which is a huge intertwined network composed of very thin hyphae.
Mycelium is a bit like the root of a plant.
They move with the growth of fungi and actively explore the surrounding environment in order to find nutrients.
Mycelium is very thin.
Specifically, the thickness of human hair is about 50 microns, while the thickness of fungal hyphae is usually only 2 to 3 microns.
Shown in the picture is a hair with a thickness of 50 microns and a filament with a thickness of 6 microns.
The width of the mycelium is only 2 to 3 microns.
| Image source: Saperaud/wikicommons Fungi are vital to the nutrient cycle in nature.
They decompose and recycle the dead biomass in the environment, providing water for about 90% of the roots of land plants And nutrition; they can also cause troubles, such as causing diseases in humans, animals and plants, and causing damage to a large number of agricultural products. However, because fungi usually grow in soil, wood, or other animal and plant tissues, these environments are places that we can’t see.
Therefore, scientists have always known little about the behavior of hyphae in natural environments.
They don’t know about fungi.
Whether they have the ability to feel that there is food nearby, or whether they will use any strategy to find food.
Recently, in a new study, biologists have investigated the growth of mycelium, foraging behavior, and the way mycelium explores space by manufacturing and designing some miniature "soil chips".
In the experiment, they observed 7 different fungal hyphae for research and observed how they grow in space.
This time, the researchers created a transparent microfluidic chip system composed of microchannels.
The structure designed on the chip can simulate the situation that fungi face when growing in the soil, such as some hyphae that need to pass through when growing.
Narrow passages, sharp turns, and maze-like obstacles.
Obstacles on the soil chip designed by the experiment.
Image source: Edith Hammer et.
al.
Researchers designed several obstacles in the chip.
Some channels with a width of 4-20 microns correspond to narrow channels for fungal hyphae to pass through in the soil; some sudden openings The design is to simulate some larger pores in the soil; some corner designs are to check the "willingness" of the mycelium to "turn around" to grow to itself.
In addition to a single inspection, the researchers put these different challenges together, trying to check whether the mycelium can complete a long list of mixed obstacle challenges.
After the chip is prepared, all the researchers have to do is wait for the fungus to grow in the chip.
This is an exciting process.
Under the microscope, they observed these fungi passing through the chip day after day, over the obstacles they set up.
In plant ecology, the roots of cloned plants are either long and sparse (guerrilla growth type) or short and dense (dense growth type).
However, the researchers were surprised to find that this dichotomy is not applicable to fungi, and for fungi, more classifications are needed.
Long and sparse guerrilla growth type (left); short and dense dense growth type (right).
Image source: Edith Hammer et.
al.
Researchers gave these fungi roots different nicknames according to their different growth strategies.
For example, "marathon runners" describe those with dense growth but very long and straight.
Species that do not require hyphae to explore the surrounding environment; "snakes" are those that grow slowly but can wind around complex bends and corners for months; and those that produce a large number of branches and occupy almost All the free space can break through the "zombies" of the solid part of the chip with incredible power.
The hyphae that break through barriers, researchers call them "zombies.
"
Image source: Edith Hammer et.
al.
Researchers believe that these different strategies may be the result of evolution.
For example, the intensive growth strategy allows the fungus to decompose complex foods that require a large amount of concentrated enzymes to obtain, while the strategy of exploring far away helps the fungus to find the short-lived food scattered in the distance more quickly.
One of the simplest "soil chip" tests in the experiment.
The fungal hyphae are explored from left to right and it is easy to clear obstacles.
| Image source: Edith Hammer et.
al.
They also found that in some cases it is difficult for fungi to survive.
For example, repeated sharp turns will cause some hyphae to be trapped in corners, and some will go around circular obstacles.
Lost direction afterwards.
The "snake" that was forced into a blind spot.
Image source: Edith Hammer et.
al.
Researchers are particularly interested in barriers that hinder the growth of fungi.
This is because soil is the largest terrestrial carbon pool on the planet, and small changes in the carbon cycle in the soil may cause huge differences in the level of CO₂ in the atmosphere.
Understanding how soil structure affects fungal growth may give us an understanding of how to optimize soil to sequester carbon—helping us store more CO₂ underground.
Researchers hope that this soil chip can continue to be used to monitor the secret life of fungi.
Their research only observed seven different fungi that can decompose garbage, so there is enough room to make new discoveries.
They hope that by revealing the behavior of underground fungi when foraging and growing, they can understand what impact they will have on the ecosystem on the ground, so that it is possible to obtain information that can help us cope with climate change.
# Creation team: compilation:#Reference source: https://theconversation.
com/the-secret-life-of-fungi-how-they-use-ingenious-strategies-to-forage-underground-156610https:// #Image source: cover image: Edith Hammer et.
al.
