Mycelium is the vegetative part of a fungus consisting of a mass of branching threadlike hyphae that exists below the ground or within another substrate. It is through the mycelium that a fungus absorbs nutrients from its environment. It does this in a two stage process. Firstly the hyphae secrete enzymes onto the food source which breaks down polymers into monomers. These monomers are then absorbed into the mycelium by facilitated diffusion and active transport. Mycelium is also a vital component in many ecosystems in that it helps increase the efficiency of water and nutrient absorption of many plants and also is vital to the decomposition and breaking-up of plant material to form the organic part of soil and to release carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere. Divisions Microsporidia Chytridiomycota Zygomycota Ascomycota Basidiomycota Yellow fungus For the fictional character, see Fungus the Bogeyman. ... A thread is a large number of very thin fibers spun together, used in the manufacture of textiles and in sewing. ... A hypha (plural hyphae) is a long, branching filament that, with other hyphae, forms the feeding thallus of a fungus called the mycelium. ... Nutrients and the body A nutrient is any element or compound necessary for or contributing to an organisms metabolism, growth, or other functioning. ... A hypha (plural hyphae) is a long, branching filament that, with other hyphae, forms the feeding thallus of a fungus called the mycelium. ... Neuraminidase ribbon diagram An enzyme (in Greek en = in and zyme = blend) is a protein, or protein complex, that catalyzes a chemical reaction and also controls the 3D orientation of the catalyzed substrates. ... A polymer is a long, repeating chain of atoms, formed through the linkage of many molecules called monomers. ... In chemistry, a monomer (from Greek mono one and meros part) is a small molecule that may become chemically bonded to other monomers to form a polymer. ... Facilitated diffusion (facilitated transport) is a process of passive transport (diffusion) via which molecules diffuse across membranes, with the help of transport proteins (mediated transport). ... Active transport is the mediated transport of biochemicals, and other atomic/molecular substances, across membranes. ... In ecology, an ecosystem is a naturally occurring assemblage of organisms (plant, animal and other living organisms—also referred to as a biotic community or biocoenosis) living together with their environment (or biotope), functioning as a unit of sorts. ... Divisions Green algae Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular embryophytes Hepatophyta - liverworts Anthocerophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) Seedless vascular plants Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering plants... Rotting fruit The term decomposition refers to the reduction of bodies and other formerly living organisms into simpler forms of matter and, most particularly, to the fate of the human body after death. ... For the heavy metal band see Soil (band) Soil is the layer of minerals and organic matter, in thickness from centimetres to a metre or more, on the land surface. ... Carbon dioxide is an atmospheric gas composed of one carbon and two oxygen atoms. ...

The familiar hat-like head and stalk of mushrooms are in fact reproductive structures of ascomycetes and basidiomycetes fungi, and are not classified as mycelium. Basidiocarps (mushrooms) of the fungus Leucocoprinus sp. ... Reproduction is perhaps most commonly used in the context of biological reproduction and sex: Sexual reproduction is a biological process by which organisms create descendants through the combination of genetic material. ...

See also: mycorrhiza, carbon cycle, sclerotia, Paul Stamets A mycorrhiza (typically seen in the plural form mycorrhizae meaning fungus roots) is a distinct type of root symbiosis in which individual hyphae extending from the mycelium of a fungus colonize the roots of a host plant. ... See CNO cycle for the thermonuclear reaction involving carbon that helps power stars. ... Sclerotia are compact or hard masses of mycelium Categories: Fungi stubs ... Paul Stamets (born July 17, 1955) is a mycologist and an occasional mushroom aficionado. ...

Reference

• Smith, M., Bruhn, J., and Anderson, J. 1992. The fungus Armillaria bulbosa is among the largest and oldest living organisms. Nature 356:428-431.

Nature is one of the oldest and most reputable general-purpose scientific journals, first published on November 4, 1869. ...

External links

• Fungal mycelium (http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/diseaseDiag/2.12._Mycelium.htm).