From the plastic litter collected, they isolated the marine fungus by growing it in the laboratory, on special plastics that contain labeled carbon. Vaksmaa explains, "These so-called 13 C ...

Scientists in Germany have identified a type of fungi that is capable of breaking down synthetic plastics, offering a ...

In a paper published in Science of The Total Environment, researchers from the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) reported on the discovery of a fungus capable of breaking down ...

The planetary emergency is a complex crisis that requires innovative solutions. We can find some of these solutions in nature. From helping us grow our food to tackling our plastic waste problem, ...

Yet, plastic shares analogous properties with other—natural—recalcitrant polymers, like wood cellulose, which can be broken down by filamentous fungi. The fungi achieve this by secreting an ...

Climate change has the potential to make fungi even more hazardous to our health, according to research at Duke University. Asiya Gusa's climate change research focuses on how warming temperatures ...

But this destruction and decay appear to have been a golden opportunity for fungi that decomposed the dead plants. The ancestors of modern leaf-cutters and other fungus-farming ants also ...

But insects beat us to it by millions of years. Various ant species cooperate with fungi, creating a home for them, providing them with nutrients, and harvesting them as food. This reaches the ...

Fungi producing mushrooms directly out of wood are another matter. Trunks, branches, and major roots with mushrooms sprouting out of the bark indicate that the wood underneath is decaying.