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Symbiotic fungi promote invasion into diverse plant communities (Rudgers et al.)
The biodiversity of a community can affect its functional properties, such as its productiveness or its ability to resist invasion by exotic species. Many grass species host fungi in their leaves that can render them more resistant to herbivory, drought, and competition. In a forthcoming issue of... view more (2003-12-10)

Cellular organelle evolved repeatedly
NWO researchers have discovered that in the course of evolution hydrogenosomes repeatedly evolved from mitochondria. Hydrogenosomes, or 'hydrogen-forming organelles', are cell organelles that produce hydrogen and energy. They serve as an alternative energy supply in organisms that live without... view more (2001-07-26)

Fungi can tell us about the origin of sex chromosomes
Fungi do not have sexes, just so-called mating types. A new study being published today in the prestigious journal PLoS shows that there are great similarities between the parts of DNA that determine the sex of plants and animals and the parts of DNA that determine mating types in certain fungi.   view more (2008-03-18)

What gives us sunburn protects crayfish against bacteria
The production of melanin gives us sunburns, but it also helps invertebrate animals to encapsulate attacking fungi and parasites.   view more (2007-09-25)

Symbiotic fungus does not depend on fungus-farming ants for reproduction, researchers say
Fungus-farming ants around the world cultivate essentially the same fungus and are not as critical to the reproduction of the fungi as previously believed, biologists at The University of Texas at Austin have discovered.   view more (2006-06-28)

An unexpected outcome of atmospheric CO2 enrichment
Unseen belowground interactions impact the composition of natural plant communities. Mycorrhizae, symbiotic associations between soil fungi and plant roots, help plants acquire soil nutrients but also drain substantial carbon from plants. Whether mycorrhizae help or hinder plant growth depends upon... view more (2003-05-22)

New Method Confirms Importance of Fungi in Arctic Nitrogen Cycle
A new method to calculate the transfer of nitrogen from Arctic mushrooms to plants is shedding light on how fungi living symbiotically on plant roots transfer vital nutrients to their hosts.   view more (2006-05-10)

Einstein researchers' discover 'radiation-eating' fungi
Scientists have long assumed that fungi exist mainly to decompose matter into chemicals that other organisms can then use. But researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found evidence that fungi possess a previously undiscovered talent with profound... view more (2007-05-23)

Fungus Foot Baths Could Save Bees
One of the biggest world wide threats to honey bees, the varroa mite, could soon be about to meet its nemesis. Researchers at the University of Warwick are examining naturally occurring fungi that kill the varroa mite. They are also exploring a range of ways to deliver the killer fungus throughout... view more (2008-07-29)

Tree-Killing Fungus Officially Named by Scientists
The USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) today announced that an SRS scientist and other researchers have officially named the fungus responsible for killing redbay and other trees in the coastal plains of northeastern Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.   view more (2008-07-01)

Fungi have a hand in depleted uranium's environmental fate
Fungi may have an important role to play in the fate of potentially dangerous depleted uranium left in the environment after recent war campaigns, according to a new report in the May 6th issue of Current Biology, a publication of Cell Press.   view more (2008-05-05)

Discovery about evolution of fungi has implications for humans, says U of M researcher
As early fungi made the evolutionary journey from water to land and branched off from animals, they shed tail-like flagella that propelled them through their aquatic environment and evolved a variety of new mechanisms (including explosive volleys and fragrances) to disperse their spores and... view more (2006-10-23)

Active compounds found in Ganoderma lucidum fungus with potential to treat prostate cancer
A new development in the fight against cancer: Recent research at the University of Haifa found that molecules found in common fungus Ganoderma lucidum aid in suppressing some of the mechanisms involved in the progression of prostate cancer.   view more (2007-12-12)

Decoding mushroom's secrets could combat carbon, find better biofuels & safer soils
Researchers at the University of Warwick are co-ordinating a global effort to sequence the genome of one of the World's most important mushrooms - Agaricus bisporus.   view more (2007-07-18)

A world ruled by fungi
The catastrophe that extinguished the dinosaurs and other animal species, 65 million years ago also brought dramatic changes to the vegetation. In a study presented in latest issue of the journal Science, the paleontologists Vivi Vajda from the University of Lund, Sweden and Stephen McLoughlin from... view more (2004-03-05)

Fungi the cause of many outbreaks of disease but mostly ignored
Fungi can cause a number of life-threatening diseases but they also are becoming increasingly useful to science and manufacturing every year.   view more (2008-07-02)

Gene discovery suggests that plant breeders may be able to produce nitrogen-fixing crops more easily than previously thought.
Scientists at the Sainsbury Laboratory (SL)[1], Norwich, have today reported the discovery of a plant gene that is essential in controlling the interactions between plants and microorganisms that enable them to establish intimate associations, which are of benefit to both partners. Published in the... view more (2002-06-26)

Genome discovery will help combat disease and lead to new drugs
An international consortium of researchers led by the University of Manchester has cracked the gene code behind a key family of fungi, which includes both the leading cause of death in leukaemia and bone marrow transplant patients and an essential ingredient of soy sauce.   view more (2005-12-22)

Kent scientists to tackle potentially lethal fungal infections
Scientists at the University of Kent have been awarded a major grant to help in the fight against fungal infections which can be potentially lethal for people whose immune systems are compromised, such those with HIV/AIDS. The £180,000 grant from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences... view more (2002-10-08)

Nightshades: 'overflowing' with Phytophthora resistant genes?
The potato and other related varieties of the Solanum species contain scores or perhaps even hundreds of genes that can give the plant a degree of resistance to 'potato blight', a disease caused by Phytophthora infestans. This is one of the conclusions that came to light in Vivianne Vleeshouwers'... view more (2001-02-01)

Why plants' soapy defences against disease don't always wash.
Natural soaps are an important weapon in the armoury that plants deploy to protect against disease attack, but a report today, in the international journal Nature, describes how disease-causing microbes can turn these plant defences to their own advantage. Scientists at the Sainsbury Laboratory... view more (2002-08-19)

New method shows mushrooms a top source for one antioxidant
Using a new, more sensitive-testing approach they developed for fungi, Penn State food scientists have found that mushrooms are a better natural source of the antioxidant ergothioneine than either of the two dietary sources previously believed to be best.   view more (2005-09-01)

New compound effectively treats fungal infections
A new mechanism to attack hard-to-treat fungal infections has been revealed by scientists from the biotech company Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc., California, and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory [EMBL] outstation in Grenoble, France.   view more (2007-06-25)

Bugs expose underground carbon traffic system 10 times more important than fossil fuel burning
The flow of carbon through soil is ten times greater than the amount of carbon moved around by the burning of fossil fuel but until now how this happens was at best poorly understood.   view more (2005-10-10)

Wisconsin scientists discover a master key to microbes' pathogenic lifestyles
For some microbes, the transformation from a benign lifestyle in the soil to that of a potentially deadly human pathogen is just a breath away.   view more (2006-04-28)

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