A study in the forest on Laccaria bicolor mushrooms, a type of ectomycorrhizal fungi, has revealed that these mushrooms generate fluctuating electrical signals after rainfall, with evidence of signal transport among nearby mushrooms. This finding, which is a departure from previous lab-based studies
, suggests the possibility of communication through electrical signals among fungi and potentially with trees, opening new avenues for research in fungal electrical potentials in their natural habitats.
Scientists have been studying the possibility of electrical signal transfer between mushrooms and across trees via the mycelial networks. It is thought that fungi generate electrical signals in response to external stimuli and use these signals to communicate with each other, coordinating growth and other behavior. It has even been hypothesized that these signals can be used to help transfer nutrients to plants and trees.
Now, a group of researchers has recently headed to the forest floor to examine small, tan-colored ectomycorrhizal mushrooms known as Laccaria bicolor. Attaching electrodes to six mushrooms in a cluster, the researchers discovered that the electrical signals increased after rainfall. “In the beginning, the mushrooms exhibited less electrical potential, and we boiled this down to the lack of precipitation,” says Yu Fukasawa from Tohoku University, who lead the project along with Takayuki Takehi and Daisuke Akai from the National Institute of Technology, Nagaoka College, and Masayuki Ushio from the Hakubi Center,. “However, the electrical potential began to fluctuate after raining, sometimes going over 100 mV.
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