Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Mycelium is an important food source for many soil invertebrates. They are vital to agriculture and are important to almost all species of plants, many species co-evolving with the fungi. Mycelium is a primary factor in some plants' health, nutrient intake and growth, with mycelium being a major factor to plant fitness.
The English word fungus is directly adopted from the Latin fungus (mushroom), used in the writings of Horace and Pliny. [10] This in turn is derived from the Greek word sphongos (σφόγγος 'sponge'), which refers to the macroscopic structures and morphology of mushrooms and molds; [11] the root is also used in other languages, such as the German Schwamm ('sponge') and Schimmel ('mold').
Fungi that are not known to produce a teleomorph were historically placed into an artificial phylum, the "Deuteromycota," also known as "fungi imperfecti," simply for convenience. Some workers hold that this is an obsolete concept, and that molecular phylogeny allows accurate placement of species which are known from only part of their life cycle.
A mycorrhiza is a symbiotic association between a green plant and a fungus. The plant makes organic molecules by photosynthesis and supplies them to the fungus in the form of sugars or lipids, while the fungus supplies the plant with water and mineral nutrients, such as phosphorus, taken from the soil.
Its members are commonly known as the sac fungi or ascomycetes. It is the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species . [ 3 ] The defining feature of this fungal group is the " ascus " (from Ancient Greek ἀσκός ( askós ) ' sac, wineskin ' ), a microscopic sexual structure in which nonmotile spores , called ascospores , are formed.
Fungiculture is the cultivation of fungi such as mushrooms. Cultivating fungi can yield foods (which include mostly mushrooms), medicine, construction materials and other products. A mushroom farm is involved in the business of growing fungi.
Mycelium-based composites require a fungus and substrate. “Mycelium” is a term referring to the network of branching fibers, called hyphae, that are created by a fungus to grow and feed. When introduced to a substrate, the fungi will penetrate using their mycelium network, which then breaks down the substrate into basic nutrients for the fungi.
Ascomycetes, sac fungi. A phylum of fungi characterized by the presence of an ascus, a sac-like structure where ascospores are produced. The largest group of fungi. Includes cup fungi or Discomycetes; most dermatophyte s; the mycobiont part of most lichens; powdery mildews; and fungi that produce truffle s. [37] ascospore