Tag: fungus
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UK’s 90 Million Ash Trees Are Likely to be Wiped Out
The UK’s new plan that will deal with ash disease might not come in time, as most of the country’s 90 million ash trees are likely to be wiped out. Ash dieback is caused by the fungus Chalara fraxinea and it will probably kill 99% of the ash trees in the UK. Read more @…
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Zombie-Ant Fungus Faces its Own Deadly, Specialized Parasites
The zombie-ant fungus is part of the Ophiocordyceps genus, and its strange way of infecting worker ants’ heads and controlling them to distribute more spores has been well documented in scientific literature. Read more @ SciTechDaily
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Fungus Transforms North American Red Turpentine Beetle into Tree Killer in Asia
Microbial evolution has turned a mild-mannered North American beetle into a tree killer in Asia. The red turpentine beetle, Dendroctonus valens, is a wood-boring species native to North America. D. valens is unremarkable and harmless in its native region. However once it migrated to China, it wiped out more than seven million pines in the…
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Ecuador Rainforest Fungus Survives on Polyurethane without Oxygen
Polyurethane is one of the most commonly used plastics in different types of products, but it’s also one that takes an extremely long period of time before it can be broken down. A team of students from Yale discovered a fungus that has a healthy appetite for all things made out of polyurethane, which includes…
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Boxwood Fungus Blight Invades North America After Taking Europe and New Zealand by Storm
A boxwood blight, caused by an aggressive fungus disease, has started to invade the North American continent, after it had spread throughout Europe and New Zealand. Last October, US authorities confirmed that the blight had jumped continents, and started infections in North Carolina and Connecticut. Read more @ SciTechDaily
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