((( Latest Protein Spotlight issue: beneath us )))
August 2020
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While our life is spent above ground level, myriads of other creatures
spend theirs below it. There are those, too, who share their time
between both worlds - like moles, ants and trees for example. Soil
offers protection but it is also a great source for food. Plants and
fungi are perhaps among the organisms which make the best out of this
state of affairs as they forage underground for essential nutrients
while, above, leaves suck in sunlight for energy and mushrooms ripen
to spread spores. Seeking sustenance underground requires a system
that can rummage through earth, like roots in plants or rhizomorphs in
fungi. In the recent years, there has been much talk about tree roots
which are able to form intricate networks underground. The same goes
for the mycelia of fungi. One particular fungus, Armillaria gallica,
created a buzz in the 1990s when scientists announced that they had
found a colony whose rhizomorphs seemingly stretched over tens of
acres. However, as rhizomorphs grow, they also spend a lot of time
fending off microbes that also want to prosper. Consequently, fungi
yield numerous antimicrobial products, among them: melleolides, whose
synthesis depends on an enzyme known as protoilludane synthase, or
PRO1.
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