Fungi and Symbiotic Relationships
Ifitwerenotforfungi, manyplantswouldgohungry. Inthesoilfungigrowcloselyaroundthe
rootsofplants. Thenastheyformthatcloserelationship, theplantandthefungus“feed”one
another. The plant provides glucose and sucrose to the fungus that the plant makes through
photosynthesis which the fungus cannot do. The fungi then provides minerals and water to
therootsoftheplant. Thisformofhelpingeachotheroutiscalledmycorrhizal symbiosis.
Mycorrhizal means “roots” and symbiosis means “relationship” between organisms (Figure
9.9).
Figure 9.9: This mushroom and tree live in symbiosis with each other. ( 3 )Lichens
Have you ever seen an organism called alichen? Lichens are crusty, hard growths that
you might find on trees, logs, walls, and rocks. Although lichens may not be the prettiest
organisms in nature, they are unique. A lichen is really two organisms that live very closely
together—a fungus and a bacteria or algae. The cells from the algae or bacteria live inside
the fungi. Each organism provides nutrients for the other. Consequently, a lichen is the
result of the symbiosis between a fungus and an another organism.
The earliest scientist to study lichens was Beatrix Potter. You might have heard of her as the
author and illustrator of the Peter Rabbit stories. Before Beatrix Potter became a famous
author, she was a botanist and studied hundreds of different kinds of fungi. She was the first
person to explain the symbiotic relationship between bacteria and fungi. She even presented
a scientific paper to the British scientific community in 1897.
Fungi and Insects
Many insects have a symbiotic relationship with certain types of fungi. For example, ants
and termites grow fungi in underground “fungus gardens” that they create. Then when the