Morel Dilemma

For anyone who has wondered, "What is growing in my fridge?"

What do permafrost, hydrothermal vents, and hot springs have in common? They all host fungi, of course! The microbes in extreme environments have evolved to deal with some major issues, like being surrounded by poisonous ions that want to drink a cell's water and destroy its proteins.  Izzie goes to the ends of the Earth to find the fungi that are best at living in extremely cold, hot, dry, or salty environments, and some of the microscopic tools that help them survive. Thanks to the Twitter followers who voted on the featured environments.

Long before they helped craft Earth's first soils, fungi may have traveled the universe in rudimentary spaceships made of rock. Izzie plunges into the science of sci-fi mycology, breaking down the impossible mission of microbes in space and laying out some of the evidence for - and against - the idea that we Earthlings are not alone. 

Introduction transcript: “Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the Sporeship Enterprise. Its continuing mushroom: to ex-spore strange new worlds. To seed out new life and new lichenizations. To moldly go where no one has gone be-spore!"

Long before they helped craft Earth's first soils, fungi may have traveled the universe in rudimentary spaceships made of rock. Izzie plunges into the science of sci-fi mycology, breaking down the impossible mission of microbes in space and laying out some of the evidence for - and against - the idea that we Earthlings are not alone. 

Introduction transcript: “Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the Sporeship Enterprise. Its continuing mushroom: to ex-spore strange new worlds. To seed out new life and new lichenizations. To moldly go where no one has gone be-spore!"

Since their emergence hundreds of million years ago, fungi have been helping shape the world we know. Their hyphal history has intertwined with the creation of the first soil and the evolution of the first plants. Izzie recounts the history of fungi as we know it, as well as the history of paleomycology – the study of fossil fungi – and one particularly captivating and bizarre fossil from the early days of land colonization.

If you can't bring yourself to watch the Disney classic "The Little Mermaid" because it doesn't have enough fungi in, then this post is dedicated to you. Izzie pitches Disney for a science-oriented live-action reboot of the 90's animated film. Ariel is an undersea science enthusiast with a love of fungi, but the mycophobic merpeople don't understand her passion. Maybe if she could show them a pretty mushroom, she could make them understand... If only there were a gilled mushroom that fruited underwater! Oh well, I guess she'll have to become a human to study terrestrial mushrooms instead.

This mini-sode features a preview of the song written for Episode 11, called "Come to My World". It's available on Patreon for donations starting at $1/month. Thank you!

Terrestrial fungi are the ones that create the beautiful, delicious mushrooms we know and love, and their spores surround us in the air. But could there be a place for fungi under the water? In this episode, Izzie discusses what we know and don't know about underwater fungi, and the role they play - for the ocean and for humanity - and sits down with Darlene Southworth to talk about a surprising fungus living in the swift current of the Rogue River.

Ninety percent of all plants on Earth rely on the fungi intertwined in their roots. The plants receive nutrients and water, as well as some other benefits, from these mycorrhizae - but some plants take advantage of the fungi and drain all their energy, giving nothing in return. Among the most beautiful, bountiful, and endangered such plants are the orchids. In this episode, Izzie talks with Dennis Whigham and Melissa McCormick, orchid scientists at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, about how the fungi help the orchids and why orchid conservation is also leading to a lot of new fungal science.

Fungi aren't limited to soil and compost. Like bacteria, fungi are found in every corner of the human body - from the skin to the gut. In this episode, Izzie reviews a study from September 2016 that implicated a fungus in Crohn's disease, then works her way through the human body, checking out which microbes are helping and which are causing problems. This episode may not be suitable for the squeamish or for small children.

Welcome to Season 2 of Morel Dilemma! In Episode 8, Izzie discusses how to safely add mushroom foraging to your list of New Year's resolutions. This episode features interviews from Ari and Jenna of The Mushroom Forager, and Eugenia Bone, writer of many cookbooks and former co-president of the New York Mycological Society.