Mycorrhizae

Monday 1st March 2021

Today I was asked to chose my favourite soil organism. I chose Mycorrhizae - these are fungi that have a symbiotic relationship with plants. They have thin filaments called hyphae which provide food and nutrients to the plant which in turn provides food and nutrients from photosynthesis to the fungus. These hyphae can cover and connect a whole forest underground. The fungus that we see on the surface are just the fruiting parts of the fungus and a very small part of the overall organism. I learnt about them in the lecture today but they are also a key part of the book The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben. Great book and easy to read and understand. What amazing organisms. It was a close call though, there is also the Tardigrade (also known as water bears) which are amazingly resilient. Some scientists froze some for 30 years and then warmed them up - all good! For some reason they have captured the imagination of film makers so are in a number of sci fi films and also Star Trek Discovery - the Tardigrade can navigate through the mycellium network (the mycellium network is the name for the hyphae of the fungi - see it all links up!).