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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.
A mycorrhiza (from Ancient Greek μύκης (múkēs) ' fungus ' and ῥίζα (rhíza) ' root '; pl. mycorrhizae, mycorrhiza, or mycorrhizas) [1] is a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. [2] The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the plant's rhizosphere, the plant root system and its surroundings.
While movement of resources between plants connected to the same mycorrhizal network has been shown, it is often unclear whether the transfer is direct, as though the mycelium is forming a literal “pipeline,” or indirect, such as nutrients being released into the soil by fungi and then picked up by neighboring plants. [42]
The sterile fungi, or mycelia sterilia, are a group of fungi that do not produce any known spores, either sexual or asexual.This is considered a form group, not a taxonomic division, and is used as a matter of convenience only, as various isolates within such morphotypes could include distantly related taxa or different morphotypes of the same species, [1] leading to incorrect identifications.
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 possess these structures can compete and grow in harsh conditions. [ 7 ] Rhizomorphs are sometimes called mycelial cords, although they are structurally different: mycelial cords are less complex and have a loose network of hyphae giving an appearance of a fan-like mat, [ 6 ] while rhizomorphs are more complex organs that have ...
They are supported by the vegetative mycelium containing uni– (or mono–) nucleate hyphae, which are sterile. The mycelium containing both sterile and fertile hyphae may grow into fruiting body, the ascocarp, which may contain millions of fertile hyphae. An ascocarp is the fruiting body of the sexual phase in Ascomycota.
An obsolete division of fungi, meaning possessing mycelium; subsumed by Eumycota in later literature. [59] chitosome A small spheroidal organelle in many fungi that synthesizes chitin using chitin synthase zymogen, to use for cell wall synthesis. [60] chlamydospore