Do you ever notice fungi in your daily life? They are everywhere.
Dr. Matt Kasson came on the Joyful Microbe podcast to tell us how awesome fungi are and how we can enjoy them in our everyday lives. He is an Associate Professor of Plant Pathology and Mycology at West Virginia University that studies fungal diseases in forests, how millipedes interact with fungi, and how we can use fungi to control invasive organisms. And he was so kind as to come and speak to me about his outreach work that has been featured in the New York Times, Today, NPR, and Smithsonian Magazine.
In this episode, you will learn all about fungi:
- what fungi are
- how we can identify them in our daily lives
- Matt’s fun projects growing fungi in Peeps and Oreos and identifying fungi from a moldy Twinkie
- his research on fungus-eating millipedes
- how we can enjoy the fungal world
- hands-on activity to see and explore fungi from the comfort of your own home
- resources to go deeper
Matt wants to help spread the love of fungi and show everyone how amazing they are. So, please enjoy!
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What are fungi?
Fungi are a group of organisms that can get nutrients through enzymatic degradation. They form their own kingdom. And they can grow filamentously and secrete many different enzymes to break down complex substrates. For instance, they can break down parts of wood, and then other organisms can eat those by-products.
Fungi are essential for decomposing dead leaves and trees. Think about it. If we didn’t have fungi breaking down wood, we would have piles of wood a mile high.
Also, did you know that fungi can grow on jet fuel and diesel? How crazy is that? And what is left over? They leave behind things that other microbes can degrade further into simple compounds that other organisms can absorb. It’s all connected, this invisible world of fungi, bacteria, viruses that act on chemicals.
However, let keep in mind that many of the roles that fungi play are not “exotic.” We don’t have to travel to remote places to find these amazing processes and interactions. They’re happening in our backyards.
What can we look for to identify fungi when we are hiking?
In a forest, it is NORMAL for trees to be in the process of decomposing or already dead. Root rot or other stresses can cause tress to die. But it does not mean that the fungi you see on the tree killed it. They are simply taking advantage of a food source.
We can look for wilting leaves and visible signs of fungi like fruiting bodies or mushrooms. One example of fungi we may see is bracket fungi (shelf-like fungi) growing out of the sides of trees. Seeing them is an indication of root rot or decay in a tree. But the important point is that seeing these fungi is normal.
On the other hand, if there is an invasive pest destroying a forest, we would notice less diversity in the forest’s fungi (few different species present with one dominating).
Cool & fun fungi projects
Matt has made an effort to connect with the general public through some fun social media experiments. Through these projects, his goal is to share his love of fungi and show that they are doing incredible things like colonizing some of our favorite foods (the Easter candy Peeps, the cream-filled cakes Twinkies, and the cookies Oreos.)
#FungalPeeps
With Matt’s Fungal Peeps experiment, he and others in the lab wanted to know if fungi could grow on Peeps to ask the question, can Peeps spoil? Check out #FungalPeeps, where he documented his experiments covered in the New York Times.
Using fungi they already had growing in the lab (stuff just laying around), they injected Peeps to see what these fungi would do to it. Would they colonize it or degrade it? He simply wanted to get people excited about fungi and meet us where we are: in the kitchen.
I love this experiment because it helps bring microbiology to a relatable place. It allows us to connect with the fungal world on something familiar rather than in the “microbiology way.” He replaced Petri dishes with Peeps.
#MoldyTwinkie
The #MoldyTwinkie project, which received lots of press coverage (NPR, Smithsonian Magazine, Today, NPR), started when Matt saw a tweet from Colin Purrington about some old moldy twinkies in his basement. Colin even tried them and said they tasted like a dirty sock. So, Matt and his postdoc Dr. Brian Lovett reached out. They were curious to know more about this moldy Twinkie. It was the classic “who done it?” Who killed this Twinkie? What caused it to spoil? (You’ll have to check out the podcast episode to find out).
It’s important to note that the food industry knows what it is doing. They have safe-guards to limit food spoilage. So, it’s not the fault of Hostess. These Twinkies were 8 years past their expiration. But it brings up the point that we often think that “non-perishables” are immortal. And well, they are not immortal. So, if we try to eat these old foods, we run the risk of consuming toxins from fungi.
#GagaFungi
The latest fun project Matt is working on is called #GagaFungi with the new Lady Gaga Oreos. He was approached by a writer at Vice that asked about the shelf life of Lady Gaga Oreos because people were paying $80 a pack thinking of them as collector’s items.
But Matt emphasized that collecting food is a scary habit. As his other experiments have shown, these foods can go bad (remember the moldy Twinkie?). So yes, we can expect Oreos to get moldy. If they are eaten within their shelf life, that’s fine. But if we let them go, then we run the risk of foods getting moldy.
Even though these experiments are fun, the point was not the experiment itself but to get people to think about fungi in the environment and how they can even play roles in degrading our foods. Ultimately, Matt wants to help popularize fungi and get folks excited about them.
Fungus-feeding millipedes
Another project that you can follow on Twitter is a National Geographic Grant-funded Expedition. Matt and a few people from his research group are characterizing the fungi associated with millipedes across the southeast United States. The expedition will go all the way down to Key West, FL before returning to West Virginia.
Here’s my favorite part: a certain type of millipede, called feather millipedes actually eats fungi (I’ve seen these in real life! And Matt specializes in this type). What’s makes them even more amazing is that these millipedes are charismatic: they form pinwheels around fungi and have multigenerational colonies where the dads take care of the eggs.
You can read more about his research on this topic in a publication where they looked at some of the species of fungi associated with millipedes. Also, follow along with the progress of their expedition and research on Twitter: @MillipedeEats
How can we see and enjoy the fungal world?
One way to enjoy fungi is through using the app iNaturalist. You can upload pictures of what you see in your yard, and the app will suggest what it could be. Sometimes experts will even weigh in on the IDs. So, you can identify and learn about what’s in your backyard. And it’s a way anyone can get involved in research because these photos help and can even be used by researchers.
Another way you can enjoy the fungal world is on Twitter and Instagram. Lots of folks post incredible photos of mushrooms. And if you post some and ask for an ID, experts will often kindly suggest they think it may be.
Something that Matt said that I loved was that anyone can be a mycologist (someone who studies fungi). You don’t have to have a degree to be one. You are a scientist if you make observations about the world and base those observations on the scientific method.
At-home microbiology activity
The activity Matt shared gives you a chance to see what common molds grow on bread and are in your house. And you may even see some that are not so common.
How to grow common house molds (for fun):
- Grab a few slices of bread with no preservatives
- Put one piece in the refrigerator, one on the countertop, and another somewhere else in the house
- See what grows. (If nothing grows, you can spray the pieces of bread with water)
- Compare how much fungi grow based on how humid the different environments are
Then, post these photos on social media. Tag Matt and me!
Caution: if you are allergic to molds, don’t try this activity because you will grow Penicillium spp. and common bread molds.
Bonus: if you have a microscope, you could prepare a wet mount and look at your bread fungi under the microscope.
Links & Resources
This post contains affiliate links — see my disclosure policy.
- For identifying fungi: use iNaturalist, then Google the IDs, and you can even search more in-depth on Google Scholar to see the related scientific investigations
- Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake – (Matt’s research is on p. 103)
- Mushrooms Demystified by David Arora – a classic with some great pictures
- Facebook groups: look for local mushroom groups, and folks in there can suggest the best local mushroom ID guides
Connect with Dr. Matt Kasson
Dr. Matt Kasson is an Associate Professor of Plant Pathology and Mycology in the Division of Plant and Soil Sciences at West Virginia University. He is also director of INVAM, the world’s largest collection of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Dr. Kasson specializes in forest diseases, fungus-arthropod interactions, and biological control of invasive pests, pathogens, and plants using fungi.
Connect with Dr. Matt Kasson: Twitter @kasson_wvu and @MillipedeEats, West Virginia University. He is happy to take your questions about fungi and weigh in on IDs on Twitter! And you never know what he will be up to next!
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