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Mysterious ‘Dark Fungi’ Are Lurking Everywhere (www.scientificamerican.com)

submitted 3 months ago by gedaliyah@lemmy.world to c/science@lemmy.ml

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The land, water and air around us are chock-full of DNA fragments from fungi that mycologists can’t link to known organisms. These slippery beings are so widespread scientists are calling them “dark fungi.” It’s a comparison to the equally elusive dark matter and dark energy that permeates the universe.

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[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 17 points 3 months ago (2 children)

"Many fungi are microscopic, even unicellular, and a tiny sample of biological material may contain hundreds that are hard to isolate."

Yup, there you go...

[–] MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca 9 points 3 months ago

Wait, what about g-g-g-ghost mushrooms?!?

[–] Pandantic@midwest.social 3 points 3 months ago

And I bet some of them grow only under really specific conditions.