If memory serves me correctly, I do believe phytochrome has been isolated from several different types of fungi. A quick Google Scholar search brings up such journal articles as "Seeing the rainbow: light sensing in fungi" by Purschwitz et al. (2006) and "Photosensing Fungi: Phytochrome in the Spotlight" by Idnurm and Heitman (2005).
Phytochrome seems to mediate quite a few interesting responses in fungi. Best regards, Chris Christopher T. Ruhland, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Biological Sciences Department of Biology TS 242 Trafton Sciences Center South Minnesota State University Mankato, MN 56001 phone: 507 389-1323 fax: 507 389-2788 email: [email protected] webpage: http://ruhland.pageout.net/page.dyn/student/course/instructor_info?course_id=109326 -----Original Message----- From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Martin Meiss Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2010 7:41 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Fungi and light Maybe somebody familiar with cave biology could tell us whether guano deposits far from the mouths of caves are beset with fungus. On a similar note, the fungi raised underground by leaf-cutter ants don't seem to mind the darkness. But what about those luminescent fungi in rotting wood? Do they need light so bad they make their own? ;-) Martin Meiss 2010/2/22 Joshua Villa <[email protected]> > As far as I know fungi, like basidiomycetes, show positive phototropism > (growing toward the light source), but don't necessarily need sunlight in > their lifecycle for growth. I've never grown basidiomycetes in strict > darkness, which may confound typical fruitbody formation. > > Joshua Villa > > > On Feb 22, 2010, at 1:21 PM, Wayne Tyson <[email protected]> wrote: > > QUESTION: Some fungi live without light. Others live in the presence of >> light. Apart from lichenization, do any fungi require light? If so, what >> function does light perform? Are there any fungi that are indifferent to >> light? >> >> WT >> >
