fungi part 2 how fungi affect other organisms. fungi and disease some fungi damage or completely...
TRANSCRIPT
Fungi
PART 2
How Fungi Affect Other Organisms
Fungi and Disease
• Some fungi damage or completely destroy crops.
• The fungi that cause Dutch elm disease and Chestnut blight can kill these trees. They are highly prized for their beauty and wood.
Fungi and Disease
• Gardeners and farmers spend
millions of dollars per year on
fungus-killing substances
called fungicides.
Fungi and Disease
• One fungus that grows on stored grains produces the toxin, aflatoxin - a very powerful cancer causing substance.
• To grow, this fungus needs moisture. What might farmers due to prevent this fungal growth?
Fungi And Disease
• That’s right!
• Farmers need to thoroughly dry crops such as peanuts or corn before they
are stored!
Fungi and Disease
• Another fungus replaces grains of rye with hard, spiky poisonous growths known
as ergot.
Fungus and Disease
• If you eat grain products containing
ergot you may experience burning or prickling sensations, hallucinations, and
convulsions.
Fungi and Disease
• Some historians believe that the
witchcraft trials in Salem,
Massachusetts, may have been due to the strange symptoms of
ergot poisoning.
Fungi And Disease
• Some plant-eating pests such as gypsy moth
caterpillars, mites, and aphids can be killed by deliberately infecting
them with fungi. These fungal pesticides are cheap, effective, and
safe for the environment.
Gypsy moth caterpillar
Fungi and Disease
• Plants get help from some fungal diseases
from other fungi. Helpful fungi coat the roots of about 80% of
the world’s plants. These helpful fungi
are called mycorrhizae.
Fungi and Disease
• The helpful fungi spread their hyphae throughout the soil,and increase their host’s ability to gather nutrients about 10 times or more!
• These fungus-root associations protect plants from drought, cold, acid rain, and root diseases caused by other fungi.