Fungus visionary Paul Stamets calls mycelium “nature’s internet.”
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In one of his stories Arthur Clarke described a 'living' crystal on a distant frozen world that took 1,000 years to form a thought. Is that 'life'? We don't know, do we, which makes looking for 'life' on other planets very problematic.
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Have they taken into account the freezing weather 6 months of the year?
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if only it was a morel
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Go ask Alice, I think she’ll know.
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This could be the most interesting piece to come out of the NYT for some time.In all seriousness..the implications for further research are limitless. Is fungus this size the norm? And the low mutation rate...how? Why? This might be a real example of early alien life on earth.
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The oldest and most intelligent thing in the state.
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I'm absolutely buying the movie rights to this blockbuster: "Night of the Killer Mushroom: Thrilla in Armillaria" (and coming soon: "Armillaria vs Godzilla"). This monster fungus is destined for the big screen!
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This is indeed all very interesting and I hope studying this giant fungus will help humans learn more about diseases like cancer and immunity.
But to me the more important question is - is this thing edible?
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Maybe I’m reading this wrong, but it seems the age is extrapolated from its current growth rate. I wouldn’t think that this was valid without some separate calibration of the factors underlying the growth rate; e.g. climate, nutrient spread, etc. And, of course, is it established that rhizome spread is the only mechanism for growth; that is, the spores are genetically separable from the parent fungus?
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I would certainly agree with Will's assessment that the low mutation rate is the real item of interest here. The Oregon fungus is much larger and older if the data is right. And 2,500 years is old but some plants are far older. There are bristlecone pines double that age and some clonal creosotes may be 10 times older or more. But consider this: for an organism like a bristlecone or this fungus: mutations are passed down along a single cell's lineage. As time goes by, different cells in the same organism are expected to pass on an increasingly different set of mutations. One part of the organism grows more and more genetically distinct from other parts. I wonder if the data collected by the project described here supports this or if there is unexpected genetic similarity maintained in spite of a low mutation rate.
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Fascinating. It makes one wonder if the mutation rate in this magnificent fungus will increase as we continue to poison the air. But as it appears that it's likely to outlive mankind, we may never know.
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Why is it more likely to survive than us? We’ve been around longer and have evolved to the point of being able to cure diseases. This fungus is one organism that could die from one infection-and it has no friends to save it.
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I suspect we could learn a lot from studying its immune system. It is stuck ‘immobile’ in one place. So it must have some powerful protections. It cannot just move away from its attackers.
Might this be the next big source of antibiotics?
And yes, there are other big ones.
Fungi, with their immense collecting system, provide badly needed water and minerals to many plants. And plants provide sugars to them.
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1992 was more than 30 years ago? I'm pretty sure it's only 27, which would be noticeably less than 30.
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The "Alice in Wonderland Toadstool" was produced from an underground mycelium network just like this one in Michigan. Albeit, perhaps smaller. The process is the same for producing all mushrooms you see, including the ones on your lawn. There is a network of mycelium underground and the "toadstool" is the fruit we see above ground (like fruit at the end of tree branches) just like the mushrooms in the photo that this network produced.
This article doesn't seem to stress that this mushroom is not unique in that regard, nor is it unique in being a parasite- all mushrooms are.
It's uniqueness is due to it's size and age.
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@Ignatius J. Reilly many, many mushrooms are characterized as either symbiotic or saprophytic rather than parasitic.
Also, I believe that the largest fungus in the world is in Oregon and covers over 2,000 acres and is over 8,000 years old, so I think the main point of interest here is the lack of mutations.
Cheers!
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@Will
Quite true. I misspoke. "Some" other mushrooms are parasitic.
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Gosh. Is it edible? Perhaps we need to protect it from the gourmets and gourmands—and any quacks who might declare it a cure for cancer.
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@rjon
Actually many mushrooms, including the "Eastern Cauliflower" mushroom, have done quite well in studies in relation to reducing cancer. No quackery about it. The Japanese call the Reishi mushroom "The mushroom of eternal life" due to similar properties.
Some mushrooms can eat and dissolve harmful chemicals (like oil) and have no side effects. It's what they do - eat and filter stuff.
There is still much science is discovering about mushrooms.
These may be edible and look like a variation of Honey Mushroom- which indeed takes over large swaths of forest. In that case, no need to protect it - it will win.
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@Ignatius J. Reilly. Love it. Silliness can lead to intelligent response. Thank you for this. Mycology, indeed, has much to teach us.
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The elixir of eternal life is... (drum roll)... cutting down on mutations? Who knew?
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Is it edible?
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@tom
I believe it is what is commmonly called a form of the Honey Mushroom. They are edible but require cooking and are not the most delicious. When Mushrooms are cut properly the Mycelium remains undisturbed and will not harm the mushrooms.
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2500 years with so few mutations? Let’s get the cancer researchers on this team right away. So many families are affected by cancer, this is a possibility that cannot be neglected.
On a totally different front, I’d love to know more about the ecosystem surrounding the Armillaria. How does it maintain its growth cycle? How do the surrounding organisms use it, contribute to it, prey on it? At 73, I wish I could go back to school and study this fascinating organism!
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@Dianne Olsen
Different types of mushrooms/fungus have a very specific set of trees they exist with, usually hardwoods. It is how mushroom hunters know where they are- by the type of trees in a forest.
They need the trees and the trees need them. They usually kill off older trees and or help the forest replenishing process along. The trees die, fall to the ground and decompose adding nutrients the soil for new trees. Dying trees often produce more fruit/nuts so this helps the cycle of life too.
Like everything in nature it is a complex balance that works nicely.
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@Dianne Olsen Only 73, go on to school, you can have another career before 90 and then consider retiring.
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@Dianne Olsen
You can! Many colleges will allow you to audit classes for free. Look into it and get to studying :)
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