![]() Studying development will also improve our knowledge of mushroom cell biology. This improved understanding of evolution will in turn benefit taxonomy (because our naming system is designed to reflect evolutionary history). Studying how developmental elements evolved can help fill in the gaps in the fossil record. As a result, we need to use other methods to figure out how fungi evolved specialized structures for spore release. There are a few mushroom fossils (see FFF#010), but these already have gills and look remarkably like modern mushrooms. Fungal fruitbodies are fleshy and therefore don’t fossilize well. One of the major reasons to study mushroom development is to learn more about how mushrooms evolved. Why Study Mushroom Development?īefore we get into the details, it is useful to discuss why mushroom development should be studied. However, this generalized model has limitations and can’t explain all the variation we see in mushroom shapes. Typically, this proceeds as follows: the mycelium bunches up, then the various mushroom tissues are created, and finally whole fruitbody gets larger. Obviously, mushrooms don’t materialize out of nothing – instead, they sprout from the mycelium already growing in the substrate. So, can science explain how mushrooms appear out of thin air? Mostly, but there is still much we don’t know. This mysterious way that fungi appear to pop into existence still captures my imagination, which brought me to the small but interesting field of mushroom development. My first introduction to mushrooms was as a child seeing them appear as if by magic in my family’s lawn. Amanita muscaria demonstrating typical mushroom development: the mushroom starts as a small ball containing pre-formed tissues and then expands into the typical umbrella shape.
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