Travel diaries of some intrepid fungi

Pagaldevatti, Sumashini

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132913 Copy

Description

Title

Travel diaries of some intrepid fungi

Author(s)

Pagaldevatti, Sumashini

Issue Date

2023

Keyword(s)

Plant Biology

Abstract

Fungi play an important regulatory role in tropical forest ecosystems. By attacking seeds and seedlings, they keep plant populations in check and help maintain the incredible diversity of plants in tropical forests. Does every plant have a unique fungal pathogen associated with it? Or are these fungi able to spillover from one plant species to another? This leads me to think about how fungi move around. Apart from expanding tip to tip underground (mycelial growth), fungi enlist the services of several agents to disperse their spores. Some await the rain and let water dribble along with the spores (1st image). But rain can be highly seasonal in some tropical forests. Some depend on elephants to carry away their spores far and wide, promptly springing up in their dung (2nd, left). Others make an additional investment. They produce foul smelling substances and become irresistible for flies at once (3rd, right). Finally, there are some hitchhikers which will live innocuously inside green leaves as endophytes and are transported as the leaves are shed or blown away (final). I will pay particular attention to endophytes and their potential to be pathogenic for my research.

Type of Resource

• Text
• Image

Language

eng

Handle URL

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132913

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2023 Sumashini Pagaldevatti

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