Researchers have discovered a new type of coexistence between algae and fungi | Hacker News Reader

Researchers have discovered a new type of coexistence between algae and fungi

phys.org

107 pointswebmaven16 comments

I'm skeptical that this discovery amounts to a "new type of coexistence". Fungi that are facultatively lichenized (having growth forms that include or exclude algae) have been known about for a long time, as have various stages of sophistication of the lichenized condition. I can find references dating back to at least the 1980s that describe various kinds of facultative lichenization. The authors' insistence that the symbiosis is not a lichen just because the mycobiont (fungal partner) has a free-living form is suspect: previous literature makes no such distinction. The relevant distinction here is not between lichen vs. non-lichen, but facultative vs. obligate lichenization. The observation that the mycobiont can be free-living and "does not depend on its alga for nourishment" does not imply that it doesn't derive nourishment from its algal partner once the partnership is established.

There's no major news here that I can see. The main value of this research is simply that it provides the first description of facultative lichenization occurring in a particular group of under-studied fungi (corticioid basidiomycetes).

I’m coming around to the notion that fungi have been farming for about a billion years, and just get better at it.

And that temperate forest trees are basically multicellular lichen.

Check out the documentary The Secret Lives of Trees. Blew my mind.

I think you are referring to "The Hidden Life of Trees" [1] a film based on the book by Peter Wohlleben of the same name.

[1] https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-hidden-life-of-trees-...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Wohlleben

Ah, yes! That one

I bought the book hoping it wouldn‘t be too esoteric. I read the first two pages, wrote „you are what i feared“ on the second page and threw it in the corner out of frustration.

I didn‘t judge by the cover, i judged by the introduction.

Was I too quick, though? Should i reconsider reading it?

See also Susanne Simard.

I'd certainly consider "describing a real example of a hitherto conjectured form of symbiosis" news enough. Publications aren't only for major news, the vast majority are "just news". This is a new thing, it's worth writing about. Whether this still qualifies as a lichen and we just need to update the canon around lichens, or whether this needs a new name because it behaves fundamentally different from how we understand lichen is entirely up for debate, and not one that this research tries to answer.

But it's not a "hitherto conjectured form of symbiosis". It's just another example of facultative lichenization, which has already been observed in species quite widely scattered across the fungal kingdom. That to me doesn't count as a "new type of coexistence". The actual research behind the headline is valuable and entirely worthy of publication (I've made similar contributions myself), my critique relates to the headline, the angle of the reportage.

Welcome to the internet, I guess. The only way science websites get clicks is with these idiotic titles. Ignore them, read the article, judge it on the actual text's merit.

I'm still reading but so far I'm lichen it.

Sadly:

    We discovered that this is a close symbiosis of fungi and algae, not a lichen, though, because the fungus does not depend on its alga for nourishment.

As they say, That's the ..

https://www.fadedpage.com/showbook.php?pid=20220360

Also:

  The new term introduced by the researchers for this type of coexistence, "alcobiosis," is formed by letters from the three key words: algae, corticioid fungi and symbiosis.

I prefer falgosis, but... whatever.

Also:

  "And so the main unknown still is in what way this symbiosis is beneficial for each of the partners."

It's probably immune system--as in the algae help the funghi fend off predators/pathogens; or, binding, as in the algae secrete a substance that makes it easier for the funghi to attach to or burrow through the surfaces.

You must be a real fungi at parties

Depends on how much algal I'm drinking.

You're a fun gal. What do you say we ditch this party and get some nourishment? I hear you can drink your claw or fill at Autofluoresce in the red light district.

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