Japanese researchers have experimentally demonstrated that some fungi are able to recognize the structure of their environment and adjust their growth accordingly. In recent years, research has emerged that has found surprising problem-solving abilities even in fungi that are not highly developed.
Fungi form an independent state within the biosphere alongside plants and animals. They are unable to carry out photosynthesis, and most of them consist of chitinous fungal hyphae, with the exception of yeasts. Among them are the mushrooms, proboscis mushrooms, and the basidiomycete mushroom that grows in hats and appears in story books. They play an important role in the life cycle, mainly by breaking down dead organic matter.
Fungi, unlike humans, do not have brains. Under their fruiting bodies, which we recognize as mushrooms, they contain mycelium, a tissue made of threads called hyphae, in the ground, forming an extensive network, which in some cases can reach several square kilometers and mass hundreds of tons. These threads make large-scale network connections,
Which is very similar to the functioning of the human brain.
Japanese researchers were interested in whether a similar process of thinking could be demonstrated in this structure.
It's surprising how many things mushrooms can do. They have memory, they learn, and they make decisions. Frankly, the similarity in the way people solve problems is amazing
– noted Fukazawa Go, a mycologist at Tohoku University in Japan, who wrote the research in question.
the world Phanerochaete velutina – According to the nomenclature of mushrooms by Gyula Vedra, he examined velvet mushrooms – which live on trees. In the laboratory, he fashioned a circle and X-shape of the mushroom from wooden blocks and watched the filamentous structure develop.
We know, we dare, we do
As the flat mushroom filaments grew, it became clear that the fungus actually worked like a nervous system: it recognized the drawn shape of the cubes and began to grow strategically.
In the case of circular construction, for example, excess fibers did not grow towards the inside of the circle, but rather took the optimal circular shape. In the case of X, keep the connections leading to the center and try to grow fibers directed outward from the four ends of the structure.
According to the researchers, all this is evidence of the existence of cognitive functions of mushrooms, which by definition is the process of sensing and processing information for autonomous biological systems. As they write, the result is a way to understand the intelligence and ecological importance of primitive mindless organisms and an opportunity to create biological computers.
Velvet mushrooms are not only clever, but also cute. The Cordyceps fungus is much more assertive than this: it infects and controls insects. the The last of us The fungus, which inspired the zombie horror game and TV series, attaches itself to an insect's brain by growing its own threads in living tissue and manipulating its DNA, then uses the animals as exoskeletons to ensure its survival.
They are millions of years of evolution away from doing this to humans. Warm-blooded animals represent a completely different world, and in their case, mushrooms would immediately have to overcome the barrier of being warm-blooded, and mushrooms cannot withstand high temperatures. Fungi associated with humans prefer cooler parts of the body. Candida auris is the only fungus species that, having adapted to heat, is able to infect humans as well.
(Popular Mechanics, Science Alert)
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