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98 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Why was Otzi carrying piptoporus Betulinus? What type of fungi was it?
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It was a wood rotter fungi he used to treat the Vermifuge inside his intestines
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Otzi was carrying Formes Fomentarius. What are the three uses for this fungus?
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1) For making styptic for wounds
2) to transport fires 3) as a laxative |
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What are the differences between Eastern and Western uses of fungi in medicine?
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Western view is very direct - use fungi and medicines to prevent deficiencies in bodies, as those may lead to disesase and infection.
Eastern view focuses on eating mushrooms for longevity, such as the reishi mushroom, promoting good health all boosting energy without a direct focus on disease |
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What are modern and traditional ways to establish evidence of effectiveness of mushrooms?
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Modern - do clinical trials, involving specifically designed tests with placebos, blindness, and test groups. Results in specific measurements of tests
Tradition - no systematic test, simply multiple samples and ailments to see what worked. No measurement on effects |
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Explain the combination of modern and traditional ways of testing effectiveness with the reishi mushroom
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reishi is often consumed as tea, so you may make an extract of the fungus in the tea, then run clinical lab trials with it. Results showed that reishi didn't kill the cells, but it inhibits their growth
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What part of reishi inhibited the growth of cancer cells?
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The polysacchardes in their cell walls. It was tested with the control of 5-fluouracil, a standard cancer drug
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What are terpenes? Where are they form? What compounds can they make to fight cancer?
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Terpenes are from Pine Trees, used to synthesize ganoderic acid.
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What does ganoderic acid do to inhibit cancer?
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it triggers cell suicide. Cancer cells may have surpassed the original built in mechanism, so ganoderic acid reinitiates them
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What kind of organisms are infected by Cordyceps Sinesis?
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Insects, particularly larvae such as the caterpillar (not harmful to adult stage).
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Why would people be interested in buying caterpillars killed by Cordyceps?
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Belief that eating it would boost strength and stamina, immune system, and prolong life. It is also an aphrodisiac for males
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What kind of fungal infections are associated with Tinea?
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Infections of skin, such as on body (Tinea Corpis) or the face (Tinea Barbae)
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What is a ringworm? What is confusing about it?
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It's an expanding fungal colony causing an inflammatory reaction on your skin. What's confusing is that there's actually no worm involved
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What kind of infections are trichophyton usually involved with?
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Skin infections as well, but examples are infected nails or hair
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What fungi are responsible for causing eye infections? What are some risk factors?
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Fusarium Solani. Some risk factors are sticks or substances from dirt scratching or getting into your eye. Or when your eyes are sensitive post surgery
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What makes fusarium solani a unique fungus host wise?
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It can affect your eyes, as well as different plants such as zucchini
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What kind of infections are Candida Albicans? What are some places it can target on the human body?
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Yeast infections, may target skin, mucus membranes, urogenitial tract, gastrointestinal tract
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Are yeast infections stopped by the normal defenses humans have against fungi? What inhibits their growth?
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They can bypass the heat as well as the skin barriers, but it is limited by our immune system as well as co-occuring bacteria.
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What is a thrush infection?
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a yeast infection on your tongue, which causes whitening or discoloration
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What do treatments for C.Albicans target? Name a few
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Treatments such as Nystatin and Fluconale target the ergosterol of the fungus, inhibiting its growth, or further loss of membrane function and fungal cell death
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How can people be infected by Histoplamsa Capuslatum? How does it move through our bodies?
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By breathing in the spores, which may go into lungs. They are thermally dimorphic, so they change from a soil-mycelial form to a yeast form once it enters the body.
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Is Histoplasma Capsulatum as severe infection? How is it treated? When does it become fatal?
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It is not severe, 95% of people don't even known because immune system destroys it. It can be treated with antibiotics.
It becomes fatal when it is dessimenated in blood, as then it colonizes one's internal organs and then produce skin lesions, warping the host's ody to beyond human recognition |
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What is Deep Mycoses?
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medical term for fatal infection
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What was Alexander Flemming's discovery in the lab?
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his infected pure cultures formed Inhibition zones, where there was no bacterial growth where the fungal colony grew. This fungal mold was Penicillium Chrysogenum.
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Which scientists followed up on Flemming's discovery? What did they create?
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After seeing the Mold Juice from Flemming's discoveries could cure infections, Howard Florey and Ernest Chain of Oxford went on to find better strains of the pencillium, eventually proposing the idea for the US to produce penicillin. They did tests on mice by infecting them with staph, and then giving half of them regular does of pencillin, which enabled them all to live
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Why did the US take up the Pencillin project? What was the result?
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US took it up because it was currently WWII, which meant many deaths on the battlefield by infections from wounds. The project was a great success: through various techinques of strain purification and also x-raying it to cause mutations for more growth, pencillin was so cheaply produced it cost more to package it
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What medium was the newly found pencillin strain grown in? What benefits were there?
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They grew the fungus in corn steep liquor, which was the fluid from pre-milling corn in water. This resulted in great increase of corn growth
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What were the disadvantages of Pencillin G? What was it modified into eventually?
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penicillin G required intraveous application because it was unstable in acid. With chemistry, it was eventually modified into Pencillin V, which was acid stable and could be taken as a pill
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Using pencillin treated a lot diseases such as Pneumonia, Gonorrhea, as well as preventative infections in animals. What concern did this raise?
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The concern of antibiotic resistance, as genes move in between species of bacteria, and may one day produce resistant strains of bacteria in animals and humans.
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What developed as an antibiotic resistance to penicillin? What does this do?
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penicillianase, an enzyme that degrades penicillin by breaking down its B-Lactam ring.
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What alterior forms of penicillin have been introduced to resist penicillinase?
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Oxacillion, Amoxicillin (sometimes paired with clavulanic acid, another inhibitor of the pen-ase)
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How do fungi contribute to the carbon cycle?
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they convert organic carbon into CO2, which in turn are converted by trees into oxygen as well as photosynthesis. Fungi covert about 85 bilion tons of carbon/year
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What substance is fungi unique to decomposing? Why does it take so long?
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It is wood - it takes long to decompose because of the tree's structure, composed of both complex polysaccharides (cellulose) as well as a tough outer layer of lignin.
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Where do wood rotting fungi get their source of nitrogen? What does this suggest about fungi?
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Wood is not rich with nitrogen, so they consume nematodes, worms that live in the trees. This suggests that fungi are predatory
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What is ergosterol? Why is it often a target of fungicides?
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ergosterol is an essential part of fungal cell membranes. If its synthesis is inhibited, then its cells die
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What are phenolics and tannins? Where do they exist?
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These are chemical compounds in the composition of wood that inhibit fungal growth
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What trees have strong bark that is virtually immune to decay? Why do we not use more of it?
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Redwood bark. It is expensive as it is only on the East Coast of the US
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What is the center of the tree named? What is its purpose?
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The center of the tree is called the Heartwood. It is nonliving and serve structural purposes only. You need a really old tree to have heartwood
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What surrounds the heartwood in trees? What is its purpose?
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The sapwood surrounds the heartwood, serving to conduct water
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About how many years old will a tree have to be to have true rot resistance? Why is this so?
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It takes about >100 years, as a tree has 40-50 years of youth
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How can you tell from wood products whether it's made from young or old wood?
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Old wood show finer grains, while younger grains have a lighter color and are more prone to crack
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What alternative to wood is used for construction? Why is it good?
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an alternative is Trex - made of recycled wood and plastic. It simulates wood, yet is immune to microbial decay
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How long ago was the Devonian era? What happened in this period of time? What fuel resource came from this era?
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Devonian era was 400 mil years ago, when plants colonized land. This was also where the majority of coal comes from
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How did lignin come about?
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the growth of tall plants eventually required some form of support, so they evolved lignin, which were woody structures
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When did wood decomposers and fungi emerge after plants?
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they did not appear until some 60 million years later, enabling trees to flourish and grow uninhibited
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What is the target of heartrot fungi? How does its infection begin?
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heartrot fungi targets living heartwood in trees. It may enter the core from injuries, broken branches, or pruning wounds, or absorption of branches (enveloping branches as outer layer gets thicker)
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What are some symptoms of trees suffering heartrot?
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Trees suffering heartrot often have dark spots and are hollowed out, prone to falling over
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What measures do plantations take in attempts to avoid heartrot? Why does this not work?
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they tend to harvest trees earlier, just after 20-30 years of growth. However, cutting down trees just stems more growth of more fungi other than wood rotters
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What type of wood exhibit blue stains? Why is this wood bad? Where does it go primarily?
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Pine wood may suffer blue stains from non-wood rotting fungi. Blue stained wood can't be made into paper or lumber, because they require extra bleach that pollutes the environment. They are instead used often in fnished products such as furniture
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What is spalted wood?
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This is wood showing black lines, showing microbial death.
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What are the primary targets of Brown rot?
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Brown rot attacks only cellulose, not the lignin, of trees. Ex: Chicken of the woods, many are edible
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What kind of targets are those of White Rot fungi? Why is it called white rot?
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White rot fungi undergo complete decomposition, involving both cellulose and lignin. It is called white rot because the decaying wood whows a white color spreading within heartwood
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How do white rot fungi affect the walls inside the tree? WHat are some examples of white rot mushroom
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It has broken hyphae and penetrates the walls.
Examples are reishi, Turkey Tail Fungi. |
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What is the one white rotter that breaks down only lignin? why is this weird?
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Phanerochaeta Chrysoporium. It is curious because degrading lignin is a long and very energetically unprofitable process
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How much wood do we use in the US per year?
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around 580 million meters cubed, the size of connecticut
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What is the biggest cause for wood consumption globally?
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For fuel - 1.9 billion meters cubed
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How is production of wood different on the east and west coasts of the US?
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The West do logging, while East coast takes on Agroforestry (which is sustainable, as opposed to logging)
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What type of resource are arboreal forests?
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arboreal forests are abundant with wood, but it's a one use, nonreplenishible resource
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Why is it not reasonable to collect wood from tropical forests?
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Even though trees grow fast in the hot environment, cutting them down results in loss of their land to other agriculture, making it another non-renewable resource
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Why do industries try to process trees as quick as they are cut down?
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the faster it is processed, the less microbial growth there is
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What is water storage of wood? Why is it not used anymore?
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this is where logs of wood are soaked in water, saturating wood - so much that microbial growth isn't possible (no oxygen).
This is no longer done as it degrades water quality |
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What are various methods to prevent microbial growth on wood?
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1) Fast processing after cutting down
2) Water storage 3) Kiln Drying 4) Pressure treating wood |
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How is wood pressure treated? Is this still done?
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Wood is put inside a large chamber, where heavy metals that kill fungi (such as copper, chromium, arsenic) are incorporated into the wood under high pressure.
This is no longer done, because wood degradation in nature and soil produces heave metals from the wood, so it is banned for residential use wood. |
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What is creosote?
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it is a carcinogenic compound used to treat wood, preventing microbial growth
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What is the purpose of treating wood with TimberSil?
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The Sodium silicate can be used to embalm wood, preventing it from microbial growth
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What is the key of preventing wood rot in industrial and in-service wooden structures? How is this done?
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Prevening it from coming in contact with soil. In Construction a barrier is put in between wood and the dirt.
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Why is pressure treated wood and not concrete a better choice for the construction barrier?
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concrete may bring water up into the wood
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Where does dry-rot fungi grow?
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it grows in wet wood. If the wood dries up, the fungus will stay dormant in there until the wood is wet again
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Why is dry-rot fungi not aptly named?
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Because there are other true "dry-rot" fungi, that grow in dry wood, such as rhizomorphs that transport water over dry surfaces up to 15ft.
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What are the three kind of symbiotic relationships? What do they entail?
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Mutualism - benefit to both host and symbiote
Commensalism - no harm to either Parasitism - harm done on host by parasite |
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in a mutualistic relationship between fungi and beetles, what do each member contribute?
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Fungi: metabolic versatitlity, enzymatic capacity to ultilize many nutrients and penetrate substances
Beetle: mobility, ability to locate a fungi and relocate it for reproduction |
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Describe the symbiosis between bark beetles and fungi. What kind of symbiotic relationship is this?
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Bark beetles like to tunnel into dead or dying trees, making tunnels within the wood called galleries. It may deposit eggs on the way, which feed on the wood nutrients, and become adults given that it survives. When the larvae are moving about in the tree, it may encounter fungi or its spores, which stick to its body, and is carried out by the fungi.
if the beetle matures, it carries the spores into new dead, weakened trees, which the fungus makes into a home, restarting the cycle. This is a commensal relationship, as it benefits the fungi but does not affect the beetle |
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How may Vector beetles targeting healthy trees form a mutualistic relationship with fungus?
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The beetle may be carrying spores to the healthy tree. After ingesting on the tree and making it weak, the fungus infects the tree, starting a new cycle for bark beetles to come knocking. This is not a mutualistic benefit for Vector beetle, but for the bark beetle and the fungus
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What is odd about the mutualism between the Ambrosia beetle and its symbiotic fungus?
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the ambrosia beetle may carry the fungus into galleries inside wood, but its larvae acutally feed off the fungus. This may seem like the fungi gets no benefits, but it's actually growing mycelium into the wood
also, once the beetle leaves, the fungus dies. It relies on it for an unknown reason, so it is only found on the beetle and inside its galleries |
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What are the four types of fungus - beetle relationships?
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1) Beetle brings fungus to dying tree
2) beetle brings fungus to dying tree, and it kills the tree 3) beetle eats the fungus 4) fungus parasitizes the beetle |
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What fungus has been harnessed to use as insecticide in 1995?
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Beauverisa Bassiana
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What is the entomophthora muscae's host? What type of relationship is this?
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It grows on flies in a parasitic relationship
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What relationship do leafcutter ants form with fungi?
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they cut up leaves and chew it up for easy fungus colonization within their nest. They then prune the fungus, preventing it from having a sexual stage, and use the fungus as a source of food. The young only eat the fungus, while the adults eat both the fungus and the generated sap
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Why do new queen ants that are attempting to escape still stop by the fungus garden for a quick bite?
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For a sample of the fungal spawn, so she may use it to start a new fungus garden in a new nest
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what are ants harvesting by culturing the fungus?
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cellulose
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What kind of relationship is the one between ants and fungus?
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seems mutualistic, but the fact that the ants eat the fungus makes it more of a domestication of the fungi by ants
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What are the natural enemies of the ants?
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termites
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Even though termites may produce fungus by themselves, how else do they obtain it?
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They build mounds and colonize fungi
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How is termite cultivation of fungus different from the ants' method?
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The termites collect pieces of wood and leaves back to their nest, then chew it up and excrete it as a slurry, forming structures called combs. It is within these that fungal spores germinate and grow, also de-lignifying plant materials as well as digest cellulose.
Fluid is seen dripping out of the termite mounds, which is the food source for termites. The big difference: termites don't care about the fruiting bodies. These form spores and complete their life cycle |
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How does the Termitomyces, the mushrooms from the termite mound, demonstrate its symbiotic relationship with the termites?
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if you extract it, it won't grow anywhere else but on the mound. it has adapted to the conditions inside the nest, and will lose to other microbial growth if actually cultivated
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What does mycorrhiza mean?
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It means the root
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Why do mycelium explore soil better than plant roots do?
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Because they are smaller in diameter, enabling them to enter smaller pores
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What are the two types of mycorrhizae? Describe them
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Endo and ectomycorrhizae. Endomycorrhizae grows inside plant cells and roots, boosting its citrus while sapping its photosynthate). Their spores form no visible fruiting bodies
ectomycorrhizae are those that form big fruiting bodies. They do not grow inside plant cells or alter plant root shape. Some trees are dependent on their mycorrhizae for development |
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Why do we not use more mycorrhizae in agriculture?
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Because we use fertilizers, which eliminate their need. In fact, many plants are losing their ability to cultivate mycorrhizae
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What are orchid mycorrhizae? What kind of relationship is this?
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They are mycorrhizae that the orchid plant family requires. Their seeds are formed without sufficient nutrients for development, so it allows the mycorrhizae to colonize it and feed it nutrients.
This makes the orchid parasitic upon the mycorrhizae |
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What do mature, photosynthetic orchids do with their mycorrhizal fungus? How about nonphotosynthetic orchids?
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continue to take nutrients from it, until it reaches complete independence from it. The fungus seems to receive no benefit.
Nonphotosynthetic orchids retain their dependence on the mycorrhizal fungus, which flows from the photosynthetic one, that has reached its independence. |
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What are lichens?
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lichens are fungus that colonize algae (or bacterium)
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What are trebouxia?
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these are the algal components of the lichens
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What does the fungus do with the alga in its relationship?
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it penetrates the alga, sapping most of its photosynthate
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What makes people believe that fungi is parasitic upon alga?
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Because alga grow better without fungus on it
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How do fungi dissolve rocks?
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By secreting organic acids, degrading it very slowly into soil
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How does lichen dating work?
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1) find the largest lichen and measure its diameter
2) estimate the time it took to grow to its current size this is only good for short period of time, less than 500 years |
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What are desert crusts? What are their function?
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These are lichens + moss, which form a living layer underneath the mineral soil that prevents erosion and promotes biodiversity. Unfortunately, they are very delicate and take forever to regenerate depending on method of disturbance
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What are reindeer lichen's purposes?
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1) food
2) dyes for fabrics 3) "fixing" a fragrance, which causes it to persist for a longer period of time when applied to skin |
