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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').
Fomes fomentarius is a stem decay plant pathogen Dry rot and water damage. A wood-decay or xylophagous fungus is any species of fungus that digests moist wood, causing it to rot. Some species of wood-decay fungi attack dead wood, such as brown rot, and some, such as Armillaria (honey fungus), are parasitic and colonize living trees
Fungi have appeared, too, from time to time, in literature and art. Fungi create harm by spoiling food, destroying timber, and by causing diseases of crops, livestock, and humans. Fungi, mainly moulds like Penicillium and Aspergillus, spoil many stored foods. Fungi cause the majority of plant diseases, which in turn cause serious economic losses.
Within the United States, approximately 13,000 species of microfungi on plants or plant products are thought to exist. Specimens of microfungi are housed in the U.S. National Fungus Collections and other institutions like herbaria and culture collections that serve as reservoirs of information and documentation about the nation's natural heritage.
Aspergillus flavus is unique in that it is a thermotolerant fungus, so can survive at temperatures that other fungi cannot. [12] [13] A. flavus can contribute to the storage rots, especially when the plant material is stored at high moisture levels. A. flavus grows and thrives in hot and humid climates. [10]
Toxins: These can be non-host-specific, which damage all plants, or host-specific, which cause damage only on a host plant. Effector proteins: These can be secreted by pathogens such as bacteria, fungi, and oomycetes [6] [7] into the extracellular environment or directly into the host cell, often via the Type three secretion system. Some ...
When the smut invades the host plant it causes hypertrophy – the host's cells increase in size and number. (The fungus also destroys the flowering structures of the plant, so it does not make seed, but the plants can still be propagated asexually by rhizome.) In an environment such as a rice paddy, new sprouts of wild rice are easily infected ...
[1] The fungi grow in soil, decaying vegetation and various staple foodstuffs and commodities such as hay, maize, peanuts, coffee, wheat, millet, sorghum, cassava, rice, chili peppers, cottonseed, tree nuts, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, and various cereal grains and oil seeds. In short, the relevant fungi grow on almost any crop or food.