When we hear the word “fungus,” it’s no surprise that unsavory images like wood rot, spoiled food, and even Hong Kong foot come to mind! Mushrooms may be “strange,” but they are unique organisms that are vital to the development of our planet.
Although they are often associated with plants, they are closer to animals when it comes to behavior. They are their own kingdom – not part of the animal or plant kingdom. Scientists estimate that there are six to eight million species of fungi, only about 1% of which have been identified. Mushrooms are everywhere, from the arctic to the tropics, from the highest mountain peaks to the depths of the earth.
The word “mushroom” means “to rot” in Latin, as many types of fungi are decomposers and can break down any organic matter: plants, animals, and even rocks, soil, and sand. Although they are immobile, have no legs, etc., they are driven by hunger and are constantly looking for food. Mushrooms have played an important role in the origin of life on Earth—mainly because of their insatiable appetites. One billion years ago, the Ice Age ended and the earth was barren without any aquatic life. When the first microbes set foot on land, some of them were fungi that lived on land by mining minerals from rocks—eating rocks and turning them into soil.
Over time, fungi formed alliances with other organisms and expanded, slowly adding life to the planet. The fungus also releases oxygen and participates in changing the Earth’s atmosphere thanks to a symbiotic relationship with the world’s oldest plant, the cutworm. Bring home the resilience of mushrooms that have survived ice ages, asteroid collisions, and many other Earth-changing events.
In the modern world, fungi provide the raw material for a variety of lifesaving medicines, including antibiotics, while other species speed up composting. Fungi can break down and recycle almost anything in nature, making them especially useful in bioremediation, the process of using living organisms to break down environmental pollutants. Scientists are also using mushrooms to develop new ways to develop bio-based alternatives to plastics, paper, fabrics and even medicines.
Of course, mushrooms can be dangerous and deadly. They can infect cold-blooded animals such as reptiles with devastating results. Humans are lucky so far, as only a handful of fungi can survive our 37-degree body temperature.
However, with global warming and looming climate change, the world is getting drier and warmer. Soil — home to many fungi — dries faster and turns into dust for people to breathe, increasing the likelihood of fungi entering our bodies. Now more than ever, there is a need to delve deeper into our relationship with mushrooms. They are the ones who bring life back to Earth after every major catastrophe, and yes, they can kill us quickly too.
Fungi can be difficult to study because they are so diverse and difficult to identify. Yet scientists around the world are working to better understand these creatures and find ways to make them more useful to humans.
Directed by: Annamaria Talas, Simon Nasht
