May 8 2012 1:30 UW Campus Fungi Observations

May 8 2012 1:30 UW Campus Fungi Observations
In this lesson I learned many things about mushrooms and fungi in generally, as well as some interesting facts about a few local species. To begin with, what I learned about fungi in general is that they have a commitment to making lots of spores in order to reproduce, which can be done both sexually and asexually. Mushrooms are a type of spore. Researchers are currently interested in finding how different fungi function in the environment. What we currently know is that they are decomposers or saprotrophs, meaning they break down dead organic material. They are especially important in the decompostition of woody material. Wood is made of carbon, water, lignin, cellulose, and hemipectins. Soft rot and brown rot fungi help build soil. White rot can strip off lignin in wood and access the carbon underneath. A biotroph is an organism that requires a living host, and has a symbiotic relationship with it. There are quite a few invasive fungi in the Pacific Northwest, many of which are biotrophs. Fungi absorb material (such as carbon) through the cell wall at the tip of the spore. Fungi produce enzymes that break complex molecules down into simple ones, which can then be absorbed. The hyphae tips are where all the action occurs: reproduction, enzymes out, and molecule/nutrients in. Fungi spores often get darker with age. The rest is information I learned about specific kinds of fungi.
Agrocybe praecox: Grows in dense, overlapping patches in groups of 1- 50. The mushrooms sometimes spore print onto each other. There are big white cracks on some of the mushrooms. The younger mushrooms have veils that serve as a protective layer for the spores on the underside.
Coprinus: They have black spores. Some of the mushrooms shrink with age and melt and become inky.
Oyster Mushroom: white rot, edible, can order mycelium online to colonize log, native, used in cholesterol lowering drug. Hair is sometime used to absorb oil from oil spills then oyster mushrooms can be grown on the hair and break down the oil
Shitake Mushroom: Native to Japan, people inoculate and grow here- but it hasn’t spread to become invasive
Turkey Mushroom: white rot, native, often grows in huge numbers on logs, top has a suede fuzz, used in a cancer drug
Button mushroom: native, kind that people often buy in grocery store, start out pink then turn brown, Portobello are the mature version

Posted on May 18, 2012 08:15 PM by brooke