How do fungi talk to each other? / VAAM - Vereinigung für Allgemeine und Angewandte Mikrobiologie e.V.

How do fungi talk to each other?

Fungi have their own diverse language. They communicate actively with conspecifics, but also with other living organisms. This gives them a competitive advantage. Single-cell yeast fungi, for example, exchange information via small chemical messengers such as peptides, alcohols or volatile substances. This enables them to detect how many cells live in their neighbourhood, i.e. how high the density of the community is (quorum sensing). If the messenger substances exceed a certain threshold value, this switches many genes on or off. This allows the community to act in a coordinated manner when the environmental conditions are favourable. Fungi also produce attractants called pheromones. This enables them to communicate with potential partners in order to reproduce sexually - something that also works in a similar way in humans. Research is currently being carried out into using these attractants to specifically breed high-performance fungal strains for the industrial production of enzymes or biofuels.

Some fungi "talk" to insects in order to better distribute their spores: They produce attractants for pollinators, for example bees. The fungal spores then travel with the pollinating bees as stowaways from flower to flower. This allows them to colonise new areas. Some yeasts can affect us humans if they want to live as parasites in our bodies: They actively produce substances that suppress our immune response.

Certain plants even use fungi as messengers. They live together with root fungi; this life form is called mycorrhiza (Greek for "mushroom root"). The fungi transfer minerals from the soil to the roots of the surrounding plants. In return, the plants supply the mycorrhizal fungi with sugars, which they obtain from photosynthesis. Plants attacked by pests can transmit chemical warning signals via the underground fungal network to connected neighbouring plants. These can then arm themselves against an infestation. In forests in particular, these networks can take on impressive proportions, which is why they are also known as the Wood Wide Web.

F. Cottier F., Mühlschlegel F. A. (2012) Communication in Fungi. Int J Microbiol. vol. 2012:9.

Babikova Z., Gilbert L., Bruce T. J., Birkett M., Caulfield J. C., Woodcock C., Pickett J. A., Johnson D. (2013) Underground signals carried through common mycelial networks warn neighbouring plants of aphid attack. Ecol Lett. 16(7): 835-43.