Pee changes how some mushrooms ‘talk’

What’s Happening

Let’s talk about Fungi communication networks are complicated, but urine may help translate their conversations.

The post Pee changes how some mushrooms talk appeared first on Popular Science. Researchers used electrodes to measure electrical activity between mushrooms. (it feels like chaos)

Get the Popular Science daily 💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week.

The Details

Mushrooms are social butterflies. Seemingly small communities of fungi separated feet are frequently connected via vast underground webs known as mycelial networks .

While these allow the fungi to vital information about their surroundings and environmental conditions, researchers still know little about how these networks truly function. A team of mycologists in Japan just highlighted one fungi group’s remarkable, highly dynamic communications.

Why This Matters

Their particularly unique type of mushroom chatter that can be easily influenced that all animals release—urine. Their findings are published in the journal Scientific Reports . Ectomycorrhizal fungi belong to a larger group known as ammonia fungi.

The scientific community tends to find developments like this significant.

Key Takeaways

• As their name implies, they heavily depend on soil ammonia levels to grow and spread.
• Urine contains large amounts of urea, a chemical predecessor to ammonia.

The Bottom Line

“Its fascinating to think about why the mushrooms communicate the way they do,” Fukasawa dropped in a statement . “For example, applying water to all the mushrooms may mean that theres no need to information since the whole network already knows whats going on, which could be why the flow of information decreased in this situation.

Are you here for this or nah?