https://emsenn.net/tags/mycology/ Recent content in Mycology on emsenn.net Hugo en Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/mycorrhizal-and-mycelial-networks-reference/ Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/mycorrhizal-and-mycelial-networks-reference/ <p>This file supplements the existing conceptual entries (<a href="./mycelial-networks.md" class="link-internal">mycelial networks</a>, <a href="./mycorrhiza.md" class="link-internal">mycorrhiza</a>, <a href="./anastomosis.md" class="link-internal">anastomosis</a>, <a href="./arbuscule.md" class="link-internal">arbuscule</a>, <a href="./hartig-net.md" class="link-internal">Hartig net</a>) with specific empirical data, quantitative details, researcher attributions, and citations. Where the conceptual files describe <em>what</em> these structures are relationally, this file records <em>what the science actually says</em> &ndash; numbers, methods, controversies, and the state of evidence as of early 2026.</p> <hr> <h2 id="1-types-of-mycorrhizae"><a href="#1-types-of-mycorrhizae" class="heading-anchor" aria-label="Link to this section">¶</a>1. Types of Mycorrhizae </h2> <h3 id="11-arbuscular-mycorrhizal-am-fungi"><a href="#11-arbuscular-mycorrhizal-am-fungi" class="heading-anchor" aria-label="Link to this section">¶</a>1.1 Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (AM) Fungi </h3> <p><strong>Taxonomy.</strong> AM fungi belong to the phylum Glomeromycota (reclassified from Zygomycota by Schuessler, Schwarzott &amp; Walker, 2001). Approximately 300-350 described species across ~30 genera, though molecular surveys suggest the true diversity is substantially higher.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/anastomosis/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/anastomosis/ <p>Anastomosis is the fusion of two <a href="./hyphae.md" class="link-internal">hyphae</a> to form a continuous connection, converting a branching tree into a true network. Without anastomosis, a <a href="./mycelium.md" class="link-internal">mycelium</a> would be a diverging fan of filaments — each hypha branching but never rejoining. With anastomosis, hyphae that encounter each other can fuse their cell walls and merge their cytoplasm, creating loops, cross-connections, and redundant pathways through the network. This is the process that makes mycelium a network rather than a tree, and it is fundamental to everything that mycelial networks do.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/arbuscule/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/arbuscule/ <p>An arbuscule is a finely branched structure formed by an endomycorrhizal fungus inside a plant root cell. The name comes from the Latin <em>arbusculum</em> (little tree), describing its shape: a hyphal tip that has penetrated the plant cell wall and branched repeatedly within the cell, creating a dense, tree-like structure with an enormous surface area packed into a tiny space. The arbuscule is the primary site of nutrient exchange between fungus and plant in arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) associations.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/ascus/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/ascus/ <p>An ascus (plural: asci) is the spore-producing cell of fungi in the phylum Ascomycota — the sac fungi. It is a sac-shaped structure, typically cylindrical, in which <a href="./spore.md" class="link-internal">spores</a> (ascospores) are produced internally. Each ascus usually contains eight ascospores, the product of a single meiotic division followed by one mitotic division. The spores develop inside the ascus and are released when the ascus opens — in some species by a forceful discharge that can propel spores several centimeters, in others by passive disintegration of the ascus wall.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/basidium/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/basidium/ <p>A basidium (plural: basidia) is the spore-producing cell of fungi in the phylum Basidiomycota — the club fungi. It is a microscopic, club-shaped structure that forms on the surface of a <a href="./fruiting-body.md" class="link-internal">fruiting body</a>&rsquo;s fertile tissue. Each basidium typically produces four <a href="./spore.md" class="link-internal">spores</a> (basidiospores) on slender projections called sterigmata. When the spores mature, they are discharged — often by a surface-tension catapult mechanism called Buller&rsquo;s drop — and dispersed by air currents.</p> <p>In a gilled mushroom, basidia line the surfaces of the gills in a dense layer called the hymenium. A single mushroom may contain millions of basidia, each producing four spores, yielding billions of spores from one fruiting event. In bracket fungi, basidia line the inner surfaces of pores. In puffballs, basidia fill the interior, and spores are released when the outer wall ruptures. In each case, the basidium is the cell where sexual reproduction culminates: two compatible haploid nuclei fuse (karyogamy), undergo meiosis to produce four genetically distinct haploid nuclei, and each nucleus migrates into a developing basidiospore.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/cellulose/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/cellulose/ <p>Cellulose is a long-chain polysaccharide of glucose units — the most abundant organic polymer on Earth. It is the primary structural component of plant cell walls, providing the rigidity and tensile strength that allow plants to grow upright. Hemicellulose is a related family of branched polysaccharides that cross-links cellulose fibers and fills the matrix between them. Together with <a href="./lignin.md" class="link-internal">lignin</a>, cellulose and hemicellulose form <strong>lignocellulose</strong> — the composite material that constitutes wood, straw, leaf litter, and virtually all dead plant matter.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/chitin/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/chitin/ <p>Chitin: a long-chain polymer of N-acetylglucosamine that forms the primary structural component of fungal cell walls. It is the material that makes <a href="./hyphae.md" class="link-internal">hyphae</a> rigid and resistant — the fungal equivalent of cellulose in plants or collagen in animals. Chitin molecules assemble into microfibrils that are embedded in a matrix of other polysaccharides and proteins, forming a composite wall that is tough, flexible, and biologically resistant to degradation. This structural resilience contributes to the durability of fungal tissues, from the persistent <a href="./mycelium.md" class="link-internal">mycelium</a> threading through soil to the flesh of a <a href="./fruiting-body.md" class="link-internal">fruiting body</a>.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/coenocytic/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/coenocytic/ <p>Coenocytic (from Greek <em>koinos</em>, shared, and <em>kytos</em>, container) describes a <a href="./hyphae.md" class="link-internal">hyphal</a> organization in which the filament is a continuous tube containing many nuclei in a shared <a href="./cytoplasm.md" class="link-internal">cytoplasm</a>, undivided by cross-walls. Where septate <a href="./hyphae.md" class="link-internal">hyphae</a> are partitioned into cells by <a href="./septum.md" class="link-internal">septa</a>, coenocytic hyphae are open tubes — sometimes enormously long — in which nuclei, organelles, and cytoplasm move freely from end to end.</p> <p>This organization is characteristic of several fungal lineages, including many Zygomycota (<em>Rhizopus</em>, <em>Mucor</em>, the common bread molds) and Chytridiomycota (aquatic fungi that also produce <a href="./zoospore.md" class="link-internal">zoospores</a>). The coenocytic condition is generally considered ancestral in fungi — septate construction evolved later, in the lineages leading to Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, the two largest phyla. See <a href="../topics/fungal-taxonomy.md" class="link-internal">fungal taxonomy</a> for the broader classification context.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/cytoplasm/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/cytoplasm/ <p>Cytoplasm is the gel-like material that fills the interior of a <a href="../../terms/cell.md" class="link-internal">cell</a>, enclosed by the cell membrane and surrounding the nucleus and organelles. It consists of water, dissolved ions, small molecules, <a href="../../terms/enzyme.md" class="link-internal">enzymes</a>, and a network of protein filaments (the cytoskeleton) that provides structural support and serves as tracks for intracellular transport. In a fungal <a href="./hyphae.md" class="link-internal">hypha</a>, the cytoplasm contains mitochondria (for energy production), ribosomes (for protein synthesis), endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus (for protein processing and vesicle production), vacuoles (for storage and turgor), and the nucleus or nuclei that house the organism&rsquo;s <a href="../../terms/dna.md" class="link-internal">DNA</a>.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/extracellular-digestion/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/extracellular-digestion/ <p>Extracellular digestion is the defining nutritional strategy of fungi. Unlike animals, which take food inside their bodies and digest it internally, fungi digest first and absorb second. The <a href="./hyphae.md" class="link-internal">hyphae</a> of a fungal <a href="./mycelium.md" class="link-internal">mycelium</a> secrete <a href="../../terms/enzyme.md" class="link-internal">enzymes</a> into the surrounding <a href="./substrate.md" class="link-internal">substrate</a>, breaking down complex organic molecules — proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and structural polymers like <a href="./lignin.md" class="link-internal">lignin</a> and cellulose — into small molecules that can be absorbed through the hyphal cell wall.</p> <p>This is sometimes called absorptive nutrition, and it is what makes fungi fundamentally different from both plants and animals. Plants are autotrophs: they make their own food from light, water, and carbon dioxide. Animals are heterotrophs that ingest food and digest it internally. Fungi are <a href="./heterotroph.md" class="link-internal">heterotrophs</a> that digest food externally and absorb it — a third strategy that has no close parallel in the other kingdoms. The fungus eats by growing through its food, secreting enzymes ahead of the advancing hyphal tips, and absorbing the digestion products behind them. The organism and its digestive process are spatially coextensive with the substrate.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/fruiting-body/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/fruiting-body/ <p>Fruiting body (also: mushroom, sporocarp): the spore-producing structure of a fungus. The mushroom, bracket, puffball, or truffle that most people recognize as &ldquo;a fungus&rdquo; is actually the fruiting body — a temporary reproductive structure produced by the <a href="./mycelium.md" class="link-internal">mycelium</a> when conditions favor reproduction. The mycelium builds the fruiting body by aggregating <a href="./hyphae.md" class="link-internal">hyphae</a> into dense tissue, differentiating specialized structures for <a href="./spore.md" class="link-internal">spore</a> production and release, and then — often within days — the structure matures, releases its spores, and decays.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/fungal-biochemistry-and-nutrition/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/fungal-biochemistry-and-nutrition/ <h2 id="assumed-audience"><a href="#assumed-audience" class="heading-anchor" aria-label="Link to this section">¶</a>Assumed audience </h2> <p>General adult who has completed Fungal Biology Fundamentals. No chemistry background required.</p> <h2 id="fungi-are-heterotrophs"><a href="#fungi-are-heterotrophs" class="heading-anchor" aria-label="Link to this section">¶</a>Fungi are heterotrophs </h2> <p>Plants make their own food from sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide through <a href="../../terms/photosynthesis.md" class="link-internal">photosynthesis</a>. Fungi cannot do this — they have no chloroplasts and no photosynthetic machinery. Fungi are <a href="../terms/heterotroph.md" class="link-internal">heterotrophs</a>: they must obtain organic carbon and energy from external sources. This dependence on other organisms (living or dead) for food is the metabolic fact that shapes every aspect of fungal ecology.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/fungal-biology-fundamentals/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/fungal-biology-fundamentals/ <h2 id="assumed-audience"><a href="#assumed-audience" class="heading-anchor" aria-label="Link to this section">¶</a>Assumed audience </h2> <p>General adult with no formal biology background. The goal is to understand what fungi are and how they work.</p> <h2 id="what-fungi-are"><a href="#what-fungi-are" class="heading-anchor" aria-label="Link to this section">¶</a>What fungi are </h2> <p>Fungi are their own kingdom — not plants, not animals. They are <a href="../terms/heterotroph.md" class="link-internal">heterotrophs</a>, meaning they cannot photosynthesize. Instead, fungi obtain nutrition by <a href="../terms/extracellular-digestion.md" class="link-internal">extracellular digestion</a> — secreting <a href="../../terms/enzyme.md" class="link-internal">enzymes</a> that digest organic matter externally, then absorbing the released nutrients. Their cell walls are made of <a href="../terms/chitin.md" class="link-internal">chitin</a>, not <a href="../terms/cellulose.md" class="link-internal">cellulose</a> like plants. Genetically, fungi are more closely related to animals than to plants (see <a href="../concepts/fungal-cell-biology.md" class="link-internal">fungal cell biology</a> for more on what makes a fungal cell distinctive).</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/fungal-cell-biology/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/fungal-cell-biology/ <p>Fungi are eukaryotes — their <a href="../../terms/cell.md" class="link-internal">cells</a> have a membrane-bound nucleus containing <a href="../../terms/dna.md" class="link-internal">DNA</a>, plus organelles including mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, and vacuoles. But the fungal cell differs from animal and plant cells in ways that define how fungi live, feed, grow, and relate to their environments.</p> <h2 id="cell-wall"><a href="#cell-wall" class="heading-anchor" aria-label="Link to this section">¶</a>Cell wall </h2> <p>The most distinctive feature of a fungal cell is its wall. Where plant cell walls are made of cellulose, fungal cell walls are made of <a href="../terms/chitin.md" class="link-internal">chitin</a> — the same polymer found in arthropod exoskeletons. Chitin is a tough, flexible polysaccharide of N-acetylglucosamine units. It gives <a href="../terms/hyphae.md" class="link-internal">hyphae</a> their structural rigidity while remaining flexible enough to allow the continuous tip growth that drives mycelial expansion. The presence of chitin rather than cellulose is one of the features that distinguishes fungi from plants and places them closer to animals in the eukaryotic tree — both fungi and animals belong to the clade Opisthokonta. The cell wall also contains glucans and glycoproteins that contribute to structure, cell-cell recognition, and environmental sensing.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/fungal-chemical-ecology/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/fungal-chemical-ecology/ <p>Fungi are chemical organisms. They lack eyes, ears, and nervous systems. They do not move through space in search of food. Instead, they sense, communicate, defend, and feed through chemistry — secreting enzymes, emitting volatile organic compounds (VOCs), detecting molecular gradients, and exchanging signaling molecules with organisms of other kingdoms. Fungal chemical ecology studies these processes, and it reveals an organism whose entire mode of being is mediated by molecular exchange.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/decomposition-as-relation/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/decomposition-as-relation/ <p>Fungi are the primary decomposers in terrestrial ecosystems. They are the only organisms that can fully degrade lignin, the aromatic polymer that constitutes 20-30% of woody plant biomass and is the second most abundant organic polymer on Earth after cellulose. Without fungal decomposition, dead plant matter would accumulate indefinitely, removing carbon and nutrients from biological circulation. Fungal decomposition recycles an estimated 85-90% of the carbon in dead wood and leaf litter in forest ecosystems.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/fungal-ecology/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/fungal-ecology/ <h2 id="assumed-audience"><a href="#assumed-audience" class="heading-anchor" aria-label="Link to this section">¶</a>Assumed audience </h2> <p>General adult who has completed Fungal Biochemistry and Nutrition.</p> <h2 id="saprotrophs--the-decomposers"><a href="#saprotrophs--the-decomposers" class="heading-anchor" aria-label="Link to this section">¶</a>Saprotrophs — the decomposers </h2> <p><a href="../terms/saprotroph.md" class="link-internal">Saprotrophic</a> fungi decompose dead organic matter — fallen leaves, dead wood, animal remains. They are the primary decomposers of <a href="../terms/lignin.md" class="link-internal">lignin</a> (the structural polymer of wood), breaking down the <a href="../terms/cellulose.md" class="link-internal">lignocellulose</a> that no other organism can fully dismantle. Without fungal decomposition, dead plant material would accumulate and nutrients would be locked away from living organisms. See <a href="../topics/decomposition-as-relation.md" class="link-internal">Decomposition as Relation</a> for a deeper treatment.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/fungal-intelligence/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/fungal-intelligence/ <p>Fungi have no neurons, no brain, and no nervous system. Yet research over the past two decades has documented behaviors in <a href="../concepts/mycelial-networks.md" class="link-internal">mycelial networks</a> that resemble cognitive processes: path optimization, resource allocation, memory, and habituation. Whether these behaviors constitute &ldquo;intelligence&rdquo; depends on one&rsquo;s definition, but the experimental results themselves are well established.</p> <h2 id="network-optimization"><a href="#network-optimization" class="heading-anchor" aria-label="Link to this section">¶</a>Network optimization </h2> <p>The most famous demonstration involves the slime mold <em>Physarum polycephalum</em> — technically a protist, not a fungus, but one that forms mycelium-like networks and is routinely studied alongside fungi for its network behavior.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/nutrient-cycling/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/nutrient-cycling/ <p>Terrestrial ecosystems run on cycles. Carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and other elements move from the nonliving environment into living organisms, pass through food webs, and return to the nonliving environment to be taken up again. These biogeochemical cycles are the circulatory system of the biosphere. Fungi occupy a position in these cycles that no other group of organisms can fill: they are the primary agents of decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems and the primary mediators of mineral nutrition for plants.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/fungal-reproduction/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/fungal-reproduction/ <p>Fungi reproduce through <a href="../terms/spore.md" class="link-internal">spores</a> — small, durable cells released in enormous quantities and dispersed to colonize new substrates. A single <a href="../terms/fruiting-body.md" class="link-internal">fruiting body</a> may release billions of spores over its lifespan. But fungal reproduction is more varied and more strange than this summary suggests. Fungi employ both sexual and asexual strategies, sometimes simultaneously. Their mating systems are among the most complex in biology. And the relationship between the hidden <a href="../terms/mycelium.md" class="link-internal">mycelium</a> and the conspicuous fruiting body — the underground organism and its temporary reproductive structure — challenges intuitions about what an organism is and where reproduction begins.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/fungal-symbiosis/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/fungal-symbiosis/ <p>Fungi engage in the full spectrum of symbiotic associations: mutualisms (mycorrhizae, lichens), parasitisms (pathogenic fungi exploiting hosts), commensalisms (endophytes living within plant tissues without measurable effect), and relationships that shift along this spectrum depending on environmental conditions. The same fungal species can be mutualistic in one context and parasitic in another — <em>Piriformospora indica</em>, for example, promotes growth in most host plants but causes disease in some, depending on the plant&rsquo;s immune status and nutrient conditions.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/fungal-taxonomy/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/fungal-taxonomy/ <p>Fungal taxonomy: the classification of fungi into major groups based on morphology, reproductive strategy, and — increasingly — molecular phylogenetics. The kingdom Fungi contains roughly 144,000 described <a href="../../terms/species.md" class="link-internal">species</a>, with estimates of total diversity ranging from 2 to 5 million species. The vast majority remain undescribed. Fungi are found in nearly every terrestrial and aquatic habitat, and their ecological roles span decomposition (<a href="../terms/saprotroph.md" class="link-internal">saprotrophy</a>), symbiosis (<a href="../terms/mycorrhiza.md" class="link-internal">mycorrhizae</a>, <a href="../terms/lichen.md" class="link-internal">lichens</a>), parasitism, and pathogenesis.</p> <p>The major phyla include: <strong>Ascomycota</strong> (sac fungi) — the largest phylum, containing over 64,000 described species. Ascomycetes produce <a href="../terms/spore.md" class="link-internal">spores</a> internally within sac-like structures called <a href="../terms/ascus.md" class="link-internal">asci</a>. The group includes yeasts, morels, truffles, most lichen-forming fungi, and many plant pathogens (powdery mildews, ergot, Dutch elm disease). <strong>Basidiomycota</strong> (club fungi) — mushrooms, brackets, puffballs, rusts, and smuts. Basidiomycetes produce spores externally on club-shaped structures called <a href="../terms/basidium.md" class="link-internal">basidia</a>. Most of the <a href="../terms/fruiting-body.md" class="link-internal">fruiting bodies</a> people recognize as &ldquo;mushrooms&rdquo; belong here. <strong>Chytridiomycota</strong> (chytrids) — primarily aquatic fungi that retain flagellated spores (<a href="../terms/zoospore.md" class="link-internal">zoospores</a>), a feature lost in most other fungal lineages. Chytrids include <em>Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis</em>, responsible for global amphibian declines. <strong>Zygomycota</strong> (bread molds) — including <em>Rhizopus</em> and <em>Mucor</em>, common on decaying organic matter. This group is now known to be polyphyletic and has been split into several smaller phyla. <strong>Glomeromycota</strong> — the arbuscular <a href="../terms/mycorrhiza.md" class="link-internal">mycorrhizal</a> fungi, which form endomycorrhizal associations with over 80% of land plant species. They produce no conspicuous fruiting bodies and are obligate symbionts, unable to grow without a plant host.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/hartig-net/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/hartig-net/ <p>The Hartig net is a network of <a href="./hyphae.md" class="link-internal">hyphae</a> that grows between the cells of a plant root cortex, forming the primary exchange interface in ectomycorrhizal associations. Named after the nineteenth-century German forest botanist Theodor Hartig, who first described it, this structure is the defining anatomical feature of <a href="./mycorrhiza.md" class="link-internal">ectomycorrhizae</a>. The hyphae do not penetrate the root cell walls — they grow <em>between</em> cells, insinuating themselves into the intercellular spaces and creating a labyrinthine surface across which nutrients pass in both directions.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/heterotroph/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/heterotroph/ <p>A heterotroph is an organism that cannot synthesize its own food from inorganic raw materials. Unlike autotrophs — which capture energy from light (<a href="../../terms/photosynthesis.md" class="link-internal">photosynthesis</a>) or inorganic chemical reactions (chemosynthesis) to build organic molecules from carbon dioxide and water — heterotrophs must obtain organic carbon by consuming or absorbing it from other organisms, living or dead.</p> <p>Animals and fungi are both heterotrophs, but they feed in fundamentally different ways. Animals are ingestive heterotrophs: they take food inside their bodies, then digest it internally using enzymes in a gut or digestive cavity. Fungi are absorptive heterotrophs: they secrete <a href="./extracellular-digestion.md" class="link-internal">digestive enzymes</a> into the surrounding <a href="./substrate.md" class="link-internal">substrate</a>, break down complex molecules outside their bodies, and absorb the small molecules through their <a href="./hyphae.md" class="link-internal">hyphal</a> walls. This distinction — absorptive versus ingestive heterotrophy — is one of the sharpest lines between the fungal and animal kingdoms, despite their close evolutionary relationship (both belong to the clade Opisthokonta, sharing a common ancestor that diverged from plants over a billion years ago).</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/hyphae/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/hyphae/ <p>Hyphae are the individual filaments that compose <a href="./mycelium.md" class="link-internal">mycelium</a>. Each hypha is a tubular cell — or chain of cells divided by cross-walls called <a href="./septum.md" class="link-internal">septa</a> — that grows by extending at its tip. Hyphae branch, and branches may fuse with other hyphae through <a href="./anastomosis.md" class="link-internal">anastomosis</a>, creating the interconnected network that constitutes the fungal body. They are typically two to ten micrometers in diameter, invisible to the unaided eye, but collectively they can span enormous distances. A single cubic centimeter of forest soil may contain hundreds of meters of hyphal filaments.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/lichen/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/lichen/ <p>Lichen: a composite organism formed by a stable symbiotic association between a fungus (the mycobiont) and one or more photosynthetic partners (the photobiont — usually a green alga or cyanobacterium). The fungus provides the structural matrix of the lichen body (the thallus), protecting the photobiont from desiccation and UV radiation. The photobiont provides photosynthetically fixed carbon to the fungus. When the photobiont is a cyanobacterium, it may also fix atmospheric nitrogen. The thallus is a structure that neither partner produces alone — it is an emergent form arising from the association itself.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/lignin/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/lignin/ <p>Lignin is a complex, irregular polymer of phenolic compounds that gives wood its rigidity and resistance to decay. It is the second most abundant organic polymer on Earth, after cellulose, and together with cellulose and hemicellulose it forms the structural matrix of plant cell walls — a composite material called lignocellulose. Lignin is what makes wood hard, what makes paper brown if unbleached, and what makes dead trees persist in the environment rather than dissolving like a dead animal.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/mycelial-networks/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/mycelial-networks/ <p>The primary body of a fungus is not the mushroom but the <a href="../terms/mycelium.md" class="link-internal">mycelium</a> — a branching network of <a href="../terms/hyphae.md" class="link-internal">hyphae</a> that grows through soil, wood, leaf litter, or any viable substrate. The mushroom is a <a href="../terms/fruiting-body.md" class="link-internal">fruiting body</a>, a temporary reproductive structure. The organism itself is the network.</p> <h2 id="scale"><a href="#scale" class="heading-anchor" aria-label="Link to this section">¶</a>Scale </h2> <p>Individual mycelial networks can be enormous. The most cited example is <em>Armillaria ostoyae</em> in Oregon&rsquo;s Blue Mountains, estimated at roughly 965 hectares (2,385 acres) and several thousand years old. Its extent was determined by sampling <em>Armillaria</em> isolates from across the area and testing somatic compatibility — when isolates from different locations fuse and grow together without rejection, they are considered the same genetic individual. DNA fingerprinting (using microsatellite markers) confirmed that the isolates are clonal, supporting the single-individual interpretation. Whether this organism is truly &ldquo;one individual&rdquo; in a biologically meaningful sense — or a network of somatically compatible clones that share resources — is debated, but its genetic uniformity across that area is well established.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/mycelium/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/mycelium/ <p>Mycelium is the vegetative body of a fungus, consisting of a branching network of threadlike cells called <a href="./hyphae.md" class="link-internal">hyphae</a>. It is the fungus. The mushrooms, brackets, and crusts that most people recognize as fungi are fruiting bodies — temporary reproductive structures produced by the mycelium to generate and disperse <a href="./spore.md" class="link-internal">spores</a>. The organism that produces them lives in the substrate: in soil, in wood, in leaf litter, in the bodies of living hosts. Mycelium is typically invisible, hidden within whatever material the fungus is digesting or inhabiting.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/mycorrhiza/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/mycorrhiza/ <p>Mycorrhiza (plural: mycorrhizae): a symbiotic association between a fungus and the roots of a plant. The term means literally &ldquo;fungus-root&rdquo; (Greek <em>mykes</em> + <em>rhiza</em>). In a mycorrhizal association, the fungal <a href="./mycelium.md" class="link-internal">mycelium</a> extends from the plant&rsquo;s root system into the surrounding soil, vastly increasing the surface area available for nutrient and water absorption. The plant gains enhanced mineral nutrition — especially phosphorus, which is poorly mobile in soil — and the fungus gains photosynthetically fixed carbon from the plant.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/mycorrhizal-networks/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/mycorrhizal-networks/ <h2 id="assumed-audience"><a href="#assumed-audience" class="heading-anchor" aria-label="Link to this section">¶</a>Assumed audience </h2> <p>General adult who has completed Fungal Ecology.</p> <h2 id="the-wood-wide-web"><a href="#the-wood-wide-web" class="heading-anchor" aria-label="Link to this section">¶</a>The wood wide web </h2> <p>Mycorrhizal fungi don&rsquo;t just connect to one plant — they connect many plants, often of different species, into a shared network. A single fungal mycelium can associate with multiple root systems simultaneously, creating an underground web of connections that spans the forest floor. See <a href="../concepts/mycelial-networks.md" class="link-internal">Mycelial Networks</a> for the broader concept.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/root-exudate/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/root-exudate/ <p>Root exudates are chemical compounds secreted by plant roots into the surrounding soil. They include sugars, amino acids, organic acids, flavonoids, strigolactones, and other signaling molecules. Plants release a significant portion of their photosynthetically fixed carbon — estimates range from 10% to 40% — through root exudation. This is not waste. Root exudates shape the soil environment, attract beneficial microorganisms, deter pathogens, and initiate the chemical dialogues through which <a href="./mycorrhiza.md" class="link-internal">mycorrhizal</a> partnerships are established.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/saprotroph/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/saprotroph/ <p>A saprotroph is an organism that obtains nutrients by decomposing dead organic matter. Fungi are the dominant saprotrophs in terrestrial ecosystems — they are the only organisms that can break down <a href="./lignin.md" class="link-internal">lignin</a>, the structural polymer that gives wood its rigidity. Without saprotrophic fungi, dead wood, leaf litter, and other plant matter would accumulate indefinitely, locking carbon and nutrients out of biological circulation. This is not hypothetical: before fungi evolved the enzymatic capacity to decompose lignin — roughly 300 million years ago, at the end of the Carboniferous period — dead trees accumulated in vast quantities, eventually forming the coal deposits we mine today.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/septum/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/septum/ <p>A septum (plural: septa) is a cross-wall that divides a <a href="./hyphae.md" class="link-internal">hypha</a> into individual cells. In septate fungi — which include most Ascomycota and Basidiomycota — septa occur at regular intervals along the hypha, creating a chain of cells. Each septum typically has a central pore that allows cytoplasm, organelles, and even nuclei to flow between cells, maintaining the hypha as a functionally connected unit despite the physical partitions.</p> <p>Not all fungi have septa. <a href="./coenocytic.md" class="link-internal">Coenocytic</a> fungi — including many Zygomycota and Chytridiomycota — grow as continuous tubes with no cross-walls, their hyphae containing many nuclei in a shared cytoplasm. The distinction between septate and coenocytic growth is one of the basic structural differences among fungal groups (see <a href="../topics/fungal-taxonomy.md" class="link-internal">fungal taxonomy</a>). Septate hyphae can seal their pores in response to damage, isolating injured cells and preventing cytoplasmic loss from spreading through the network. This gives septate fungi a damage-control mechanism that coenocytic fungi lack.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/spore/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/spore/ <p>A spore is the reproductive unit of a fungus. Spores are small, typically single-celled structures produced in enormous quantities — a single fruiting body can release billions — and dispersed by wind, water, animals, or mechanical ejection. They are the means by which a fungal <a href="./mycelium.md" class="link-internal">mycelium</a> propagates across space, colonizing new substrates and environments. Spores can be produced sexually, through the fusion and recombination of genetic material from compatible mating types, or asexually, as clonal copies of the parent mycelium.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/substrate/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/substrate/ <p>A substrate is the material that a fungus grows on, in, and through — the physical medium that provides both structural support and nutrition. For <a href="./saprotroph.md" class="link-internal">saprotrophic</a> fungi, the substrate is dead organic matter: a fallen log, a pile of leaf litter, a bed of wood chips, a bale of straw. For <a href="./mycorrhiza.md" class="link-internal">mycorrhizal</a> fungi, the substrate is soil, with the plant root serving as a carbon source. For parasitic fungi, the substrate may be living tissue — a tree trunk, an insect body, a human lung.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/zoospore/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/science/domains/biology/domains/mycology/terms/zoospore/ <p>A zoospore is a <a href="./spore.md" class="link-internal">spore</a> equipped with a flagellum — a whip-like appendage that allows it to swim through water. Among fungi, zoospores are produced only by the Chytridiomycota (chytrids) and a few related lineages. All other fungi have lost the flagellum entirely and rely on passive dispersal — wind, water currents, animal vectors, or mechanical ejection — to move their spores. The possession of flagellated zoospores is one of the features that marks chytrids as the most ancient diverging lineage among true fungi, retaining a trait shared with the common ancestor of fungi and animals in the clade Opisthokonta.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/engineering/domains/domesticity/domains/production/mushroom-farming/domains/oyster-mushrooms/texts/grow-oyster-mushrooms/ Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/engineering/domains/domesticity/domains/production/mushroom-farming/domains/oyster-mushrooms/texts/grow-oyster-mushrooms/ <h2 id="assumed-audience"><a href="#assumed-audience" class="heading-anchor" aria-label="Link to this section">¶</a>Assumed audience </h2> <ul> <li>Reading level: general adult.</li> <li>Background: no lab experience required.</li> <li>Goal: grow a small batch safely.</li> </ul> <h2 id="what-you-need"><a href="#what-you-need" class="heading-anchor" aria-label="Link to this section">¶</a>What you need </h2> <ul> <li>Oyster mushroom spawn (sawdust or grain spawn).</li> <li>Straw or hardwood sawdust.</li> <li>A clean bucket or bag with air holes.</li> <li>Spray bottle.</li> </ul> <h2 id="steps"><a href="#steps" class="heading-anchor" aria-label="Link to this section">¶</a>Steps </h2> <ol> <li>Pasteurize straw in hot water (160-170 F) for 1 hour.</li> <li>Cool and drain the straw.</li> <li>Mix straw with spawn in a clean container.</li> <li>Keep at room temperature until fully colonized (white mycelium).</li> <li>Move to a cool, humid space with fresh air and light.</li> </ol> <h2 id="signs-of-success"><a href="#signs-of-success" class="heading-anchor" aria-label="Link to this section">¶</a>Signs of success </h2> <ul> <li>White, healthy mycelium with no green or black patches.</li> <li>Small pins forming on the surface.</li> </ul> <h2 id="common-problems"><a href="#common-problems" class="heading-anchor" aria-label="Link to this section">¶</a>Common problems </h2> <ul> <li>Green mold: contamination. Discard and start again.</li> <li>Dry substrate: mist more often.</li> </ul> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/engineering/domains/domesticity/domains/production/mushroom-farming/domains/oyster-mushrooms/texts/growth-conditions-substrate-science/ Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/engineering/domains/domesticity/domains/production/mushroom-farming/domains/oyster-mushrooms/texts/growth-conditions-substrate-science/ <h2 id="assumed-audience"><a href="#assumed-audience" class="heading-anchor" aria-label="Link to this section">¶</a>Assumed audience </h2> <ul> <li>Reading level: technical.</li> <li>Background: basic mycology concepts.</li> <li>Goal: tune growth conditions for reliable yields.</li> </ul> <h2 id="substrate-basics"><a href="#substrate-basics" class="heading-anchor" aria-label="Link to this section">¶</a>Substrate basics </h2> <ul> <li>Oyster mushrooms prefer lignin-rich materials (wood, straw).</li> <li>Particle size affects airflow and colonization speed.</li> </ul> <h2 id="environmental-controls"><a href="#environmental-controls" class="heading-anchor" aria-label="Link to this section">¶</a>Environmental controls </h2> <ul> <li>Humidity: 85 to 95 percent for fruiting.</li> <li>Fresh air: prevents long, thin stems.</li> <li>Light: triggers fruiting and orientation.</li> </ul> <h2 id="practical-guidance"><a href="#practical-guidance" class="heading-anchor" aria-label="Link to this section">¶</a>Practical guidance </h2> <ul> <li>Use a hygrometer and a spray schedule.</li> <li>Increase fresh air if caps curl upward.</li> <li>Lower temperature slightly to reduce contamination.</li> </ul> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/engineering/domains/domesticity/domains/production/mushroom-farming/texts/mycology-basics/ Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/engineering/domains/domesticity/domains/production/mushroom-farming/texts/mycology-basics/ <h2 id="assumed-audience"><a href="#assumed-audience" class="heading-anchor" aria-label="Link to this section">¶</a>Assumed audience </h2> <ul> <li>Reading level: general adult.</li> <li>Background: no formal biology required.</li> <li>Goal: understand how mushrooms grow and why conditions matter.</li> </ul> <h2 id="what-a-fungus-is"><a href="#what-a-fungus-is" class="heading-anchor" aria-label="Link to this section">¶</a>What a fungus is </h2> <ul> <li>Fungi are not plants or animals. They are their own kingdom.</li> <li>The main body of a fungus is mycelium: a network of fine threads.</li> </ul> <h2 id="spores-and-mycelium"><a href="#spores-and-mycelium" class="heading-anchor" aria-label="Link to this section">¶</a>Spores and mycelium </h2> <ul> <li>Spores are like seeds. They start new mycelium.</li> <li>Mycelium grows through a food source and breaks it down.</li> </ul> <h2 id="fruiting-bodies"><a href="#fruiting-bodies" class="heading-anchor" aria-label="Link to this section">¶</a>Fruiting bodies </h2> <ul> <li>The mushroom you see is a fruiting body.</li> <li>Fruiting happens when the mycelium has enough food and the conditions are right.</li> </ul> <h2 id="what-fungi-need"><a href="#what-fungi-need" class="heading-anchor" aria-label="Link to this section">¶</a>What fungi need </h2> <ul> <li>Food (substrate): wood, straw, or other organic matter.</li> <li>Water: steady moisture, not soaking wet.</li> <li>Air: fresh air exchange.</li> <li>Temperature: species-specific ranges.</li> </ul> <h2 id="why-this-matters"><a href="#why-this-matters" class="heading-anchor" aria-label="Link to this section">¶</a>Why this matters </h2> <p>If you know the lifecycle, you can diagnose growth problems and adjust conditions instead of guessing.</p> https://emsenn.net/library/domains/engineering/domains/domesticity/domains/production/mushroom-farming/domains/oyster-mushrooms/texts/what-are-oyster-mushrooms/ Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000 https://emsenn.net/library/domains/engineering/domains/domesticity/domains/production/mushroom-farming/domains/oyster-mushrooms/texts/what-are-oyster-mushrooms/ <h2 id="assumed-audience"><a href="#assumed-audience" class="heading-anchor" aria-label="Link to this section">¶</a>Assumed audience </h2> <ul> <li>Reading level: general adult.</li> <li>Background: basic biology helpful.</li> <li>Goal: understand the organism you will grow.</li> </ul> <h2 id="what-they-are"><a href="#what-they-are" class="heading-anchor" aria-label="Link to this section">¶</a>What they are </h2> <p>Oyster mushrooms are a group of edible fungi in the Pleurotus family. They grow on wood and break it down.</p> <h2 id="why-they-are-popular"><a href="#why-they-are-popular" class="heading-anchor" aria-label="Link to this section">¶</a>Why they are popular </h2> <ul> <li>Fast growing.</li> <li>Tolerant of different substrates.</li> <li>Good flavor and texture.</li> </ul> <h2 id="life-cycle-in-one-paragraph"><a href="#life-cycle-in-one-paragraph" class="heading-anchor" aria-label="Link to this section">¶</a>Life cycle in one paragraph </h2> <p>Spores start mycelium. Mycelium spreads through a food source. When conditions are right, it forms clusters of mushrooms (fruiting bodies).</p>