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Under Jim Anderson's feet is a monster. It is alive since the Persian king Xerxes made war with the ancient Greeks and weighs more than three blue whales reunited. He has a ravenous appetite and makes his way through huge strips of forest. But this is not a long forgotten beast from Greek mythology. It's a mushroom.
Anderson sits in an unbaduming wooded plot in Crystal Falls, Michigan's Upper Peninsula. He is revisiting an organism living under the forest floor that he and his colleagues discovered almost 30 years ago. This is the house of Armillaria gallica, a type of honey mushroom.
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These common fungi are found in temperate forests throughout Asia, North America and Europe, where they grow on dead or dying wood, thus helping to accelerate degradation. Often, their only visible signs above the ground are squamous, yellow-brown fruit bodies, similar to toad stool, up to 10 cm tall.
When Anderson and his colleagues visited Crystal Falls in the late 1980s, they discovered that what originally seemed to be a rich community of Armillaria gallica flourishing under leaf litter mulch and the forest floor was actually a giant individual specimen. They estimated that it covered an area of about 91 acres, weighed 100 tonnes, and was at least 1,500 years old. He set a new record at the time for the largest organism on the planet: a similar mushroom in an Oregon forest now holds the record.
"That made a lot of noise at the time," says Anderson. "Our newspaper was published on April Fool's Day, so everyone thought it was a joke. Then, in 2015, we thought we should go back and test our prediction that it was really a single persistent organism. "
The new results revealed that it was four times larger, 1000 years older and that it would weigh about 400 tons
They eventually returned to the site several times between 2015 and 2017, taking samples of distant points around the forest, and then badyzing the DNA obtained via a sequencer in their laboratory at the University of Toronto. Since their initial study in the 1980s, genetic badysis has progressed by leaps and bounds, new techniques making the process much cheaper, faster and providing more information.
Their new samples revealed that not only the Armillaria gallica they had discovered a single individual, but he was much taller and older than expected. The new results revealed that it was four times larger, 1000 years older and that it would weigh about 400 tons.
But the badysis has given an even more startling idea, which could help us, humans, to fight against one of the biggest enemies of modern medicine, cancer.
Canadian researchers have discovered what could be the secret of the Armillaria gallica'Size and age badtraordinary. It seems that the fungus has an extremely low mutation rate, which means that it avoids the potentially damaging alterations of its genetic code.
When organisms grow, their cells divide in half to produce new daughter cells. Over time, the DNA in the cells can be damaged, resulting in errors, called mutations, that creep into the genetic code. This is considered one of the main mechanisms responsible for aging.
But it seems that the Armillaria gallica at Crystal Falls could have some built-in resistance to these DNA damage. In 15 samples taken in remote areas of the forest and sequenced by the team, only 163 letters out of 100 million of the genetic code of Armillaria gallica changed.
The fungus has a mechanism that helps protect its DNA from damage, making it one of the most stable genomes in the world.
"The frequency of the mutations is much lower than we could have imagined," says Anderson. "To achieve this low level of mutation, we would expect cells to divide on average once per meter of growth. But what is surprising is that the cells are microscopic (a few micrometers in size), so it would take millions of them for every meter of growth. "
Anderson and his team believe that the fungus has a mechanism that helps protect its DNA from damage, making it one of the most stable genomes in the natural world. Although they still have to specify what is the case, the remarkable stability of the genome of Armillaria gallica could offer new perspectives on human health.
In some cancers, mutations can cause riots in cells when normal mechanisms for DNA verification and repair break down.
"Armillaria gallica can be a potential counterpoint to the notorious instability of cancer, "says Anderson. "If you look at a cancer cell line of a similar age, it would be so full of mutations that you probably will not be able to recognize it. Armillaria is at the opposite extreme. It may be possible to identify the evolutionary changes that have made it possible and to compare them to cancer cells. "
This could not only allow scientists to know more about what is wrong with cancer cells, but could also provide new potential methods of cancer treatment.
Although Anderson and his colleagues do not plan to do this work themselves (they leave it to others younger and more qualified to understand the genetic complexities of cancer), their findings provide an intriguing glimpse of untapped power mushrooms to help humanity.
The combined biombad of mushrooms exceeds that of all animals on the planet combined
Mushrooms are among the most common organisms on our planet – the combined biombad of these often tiny organisms exceeds that of all animals on the planet combined. And we discover new mushrooms all the time. More than 90% of the world's 3.8 million mushrooms are currently unknown to science. In 2017 alone, 2,189 new species of mushrooms have been described by scientists.
A recent report by the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew in London in the UK has shown that mushrooms are already used in hundreds of different ways, from making paper to cleaning our dirty clothes. About 15% of all biologically produced vaccines and drugs come from fungi. The complex proteins used to trigger an immune response to the hepatitis B virus, for example, are cultured in yeast cells, which are part of the family of fungi.
The best known is perhaps the penicillin antibiotic, which has been discovered in a common type of domestic mold that often grows on old bread. Dozens of other types of antibiotics are now produced by fungi.
They are also sources of treatment for migraines and statins to treat heart disease. A relatively new immunosuppressive drug, used to treat multiple sclerosis, was developed from a compound produced by a fungus infecting cicada larvae.
"It's part of this family of mushrooms that get into and invade insects," says Tom Prescott, a researcher who evaluates the use of plants and fungi at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. "They produce these compounds to suppress the immune system of insects and it turns out that they can also be used in humans."
But some researchers think we have barely scratched the surface of what mushrooms can offer us.
The compounds produced by fungi can destroy viruses that cause diseases such as influenza, polio, mumps, measles and glandular fever
"There has already been [fungi] would have activity against viral diseases, "says Riikka Linnakoski, a forest pathologist at the Finnish Natural Resources Institute. The compounds produced by fungi can destroy viruses that cause diseases such as influenza, polio, mumps, measles and glandular fever. It has also been discovered that many fungi produce compounds capable of treating incurable diseases, such as HIV and Zika virus.
"I think these represent only a small part of the entire arsenal of bioactive compounds," Linnakoski said. "Fungi are a vast source of various bioactive molecules that could potentially be used as antivirals in the future."
She is part of a research team that is investigating whether fungi growing in Colombian mangrove forests could be sources of new antiviral agents. These goals have not yet been achieved. Although fungi have been well studied as a source of antibiotics acting against bacteria, no antiviral drug derived from fungi has been approved.
Linnakoski attributes this apparent omission of the scientific community to the difficulty of collecting and developing many fungi from the natural environment and the historical lack of communication between mycologists and the virology community. But she thinks it will only be a matter of time before an antiviral drug based on fungi reaches the clinics.
Linnakoski also believes that the search for new species of fungi in inhospitable environments, such as seabed sediments in some of the deepest parts of the ocean or the extremely changing conditions of mangrove forests, could produce compounds. even more interesting.
"Extreme conditions are thought to cause fungi to produce unique secondary metabolites of unprecedented structure," she says. "Unfortunately, many indigenous ecosystems that hold considerable potential for discovering new bioactive compounds, such as mangrove forests, are disappearing at an alarming rate."
A mushroom found growing in soil from a landfill site on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, can quickly break down polyurethane plastics
But fungi have uses that can treat other problems beyond our health.
A fungus found in the soil of a landfill site on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, could be a solution to the alarming problem of plastic pollution that clogs our oceans. Fariha Hasan, a microbiologist at Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad, discovered mushrooms Aspergillus tubingensis can quickly degrade the polyurethane plastic.
These plastics, which made a wide range of products, including furniture foams, electronics boxes, adhesives and films, can stay in the ground and seawater for years. Fungi, however, have been found to break it down in a few weeks. Hasan and his team are currently studying how to use fungi for the large-scale degradation of plastic waste. Other mushrooms, such as Microspore Pestalotiopsis, which normally grow on rotting ivy leaves, have also proven to have a prodigious appetite for plastic, raising hopes that they could be mobilized to deal with our growing waste problem.
In fact, mushrooms have a pronounced taste for the pollution with which we contaminate our world. Species that can eliminate soil pollution from oil pollution, degrade harmful heavy metals, consume persistent pesticides, and even help rehabilitate radioactive sites have been discovered.
Mushrooms, however, could also help to avoid the need to use certain plastics in the first place.
A number of groups around the world are now trying to exploit an essential feature of fungi – vein-shaped mycelium veils that they produce – to create materials that can replace plastic packaging. As the fungi grow, these mycelium threads ramify outward to probe the nooks of the soil and bind them together. They are the glue of nature.
In 2010, Ecovative Design began to explore how to use this process to link natural waste such as rice husks or wood chips to produce an alternative to polystyrene packaging. MycoComposite, their first job, has evolved into the basic material used.
These are packaged in reusable molds with mushroom spores and flour, which are then left to grow for nine days. In doing so, they produce enzymes that begin to digest the waste. Once the material has reached the desired shape, it is then heat treated to dry out and prevent growth. The resulting mushroom packaging is biodegradable and is already used by companies such as Dell to pack its computers.
The company has also developed a way to transform the mycelium into foams that can be used in sneakers or as insulation, as well as fabrics imitating leather. Working with durable fabrics, Bolt Threats, he combines waste corn stalks with mycelium, which allows him to become a mat that is tanned and compressed. The whole process takes days rather than the years needed for animal leather.
Stella McCartney is one of the designers now seeking to use this mushroom leather designer and footwear Liz Ciokajlo recently used mycelium to create a modern re-imagining of the 1970s Moon Boot trend.
It is possible to match the qualities of the mycelial material by modifying what it needs to digest.
Athanbadia Athanbadiou, a scientist in materials at the Italian Institute of Technology in Genoa, uses fungi to develop new types of bandages for the treatment of chronic wounds.
But she also discovered that it is possible to adjust the qualities of the mycelium material by modifying what it needs to digest. The more a substance is difficult to digest for fungi – like wood chips rather than potato peels – the more the resulting mycelium is rigid, for example.
This raises the possibility of using mushrooms for more robust purposes.
MycoWorks, based in California, has developed ways to turn mushrooms into building materials. By fusing wood and mycelium, they were able to create fireproof and stronger bricks than conventional concrete.
Tien Huynh, a biotechnologist at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia, is leading a project to create a similar fungal brick by combining mycelium Trametes versicolor with rice hulls and shredded glbad waste.
She says that they not only provide a cheap and environmentally friendly building material, but that they also help to solve another problem facing many homes in Australia and around the world. – termites. The silica content of rice and glbad makes the material less appealing for termites, which cause billions of dollars of damage to homes each year.
"In our research, we also used fungi to produce enzymes and new biostructures for different properties, including sound absorption, strength, and flexibility," says Huynh. His team is also working on the use of fungi to produce chitin, a substance used to thicken foods and in many cosmetic products.
"Usually, chitin is processed from crustaceans, which have hypoallergenic properties," she says. "Fungal chitin does not do it. We will have more mushroom products later in the year, but it is certainly an underutilized fascinating resource. "
Mushrooms can also be used in combination with traditional building materials to create a "smart concrete" that can heal as fungi grow in cracks that form, secreting fresh calcium carbonate – the key raw material in concrete – to repair the damage.
"The possibilities for using mycelium are endless," says Gitartha Kalita, a bioengineering engineer at Assam Engineering College and Assam Don Bosco University in Guwahati, India. He and his colleagues use mushroom and hay waste to create an alternative to wood for construction. "What we now call agricultural waste is an incredible resource that mushrooms can grow on. We have already degraded our environment and therefore, if we can replace the current materials with something that will last in a sustainable way. They can take our waste and turn it into something really precious for us. "
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