Episode 555 - Breaking down toxic fungus and learning to live alongside them

Fungal invasions taking over living hosts is the thing of science fiction, but the humble button mushroom is taken steps to start. Often a fungi will specialize in symbiosis, invading or decomposing. But Mycena are starting to adapt to do all three. Humans, plants and fungi are in a complicated relationship where we influence the development of each other. The complex fungal toxin patulin is dangerous for humans, but can be broken down by microbes in soil. What can we learn from soil to fight back against fungal toxins and keep our fruit safe.

1. Megumi Mita, Rina Sato, Miho Kakinuma, Hiroyuki Nakagawa, Toshiki Furuya. Isolation and characterization of filamentous fungi capable of degrading the mycotoxin patulin. MicrobiologyOpen, 2023; 12 (4) DOI: 10.1002/mbo3.1373
2. Christoffer Bugge Harder, Emily Hesling, Synnøve S. Botnen, Kelsey E. Lorberau, Bálint Dima, Tea von Bonsdorff‐Salminen, Tuula Niskanen, Susan G. Jarvis, Andrew Ouimette, Alison Hester, Erik A. Hobbie, Andy F. S. Taylor, Håvard Kauserud. Mycena species can be opportunist‐generalist plant root invaders. Environmental Microbiology, 2023; 25 (10): 1875 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.16398