David Naylor

Dr Ellen Cameron presents her research on the Lichen Cell Atlas.

💬 “By looking for genes with specialised functions and different expression levels we can begin to disentangle how the fungi and algae interact and form these symbiotic associations." - Ellen

Mapping cellular dynamics with the lichen cell atlas 🌏
buff.ly/b0LmALf

Alfred DH on Instagram: "🌀 Nature is infinitly complex… Each of these Pilobolus are only a few millimetres tall, and most people would pass them by without even knowing they’re there. They have many... 118K likes, 235 comments - scottish.fungi on February 4, 2025: "🌀 Nature is infinitly complex… Each of these Pilobolus are only a few millimetres tall, and most people would pass them by without even...

Comments by
‪@paulstamets.bsky.social‬
www.instagram.com/scottish.fun...
An amazing macro video of Pilobolus by @scottish.fungi. This unique fungus starts as a spore eaten by a grazing animal, survives digestion, and grows in the excrement.
Why? To escape dung and land on fresh plants.

A great feeling of accomplishment, more than 40 years after first arriving in this state and being amazed at its bounty of biodiversity.

Black-tailed Bumble Bee (Bombus melanopygus) Black-tailed Bumble Bee from Wrightwood, CA, USA on April 27, 2025 at 10:03 AM by David Naylor

Pollinator doing its thing.
www.inaturalist.org/observations...

#bees #flowers #spring

Biologists Discover New Phylum of Bacteria in Earth’s Deep Soil | Sci.News Biologists have discovered a widespread and relatively abundant bacterial phylum, named CSP1-3, in deep soils and evaluated its phylogeny, ecology, metabolism, and evolutionary history.

Biologists Discover New Phylum of Bacteria in Earth’s Deep Soil | Sci.News - www.sci.news/biology/deep...

Lichens thrive in Martian simulation, another step towards life on Mars A recent experiment has shown that certain lichen species can remain metabolically active in an environment similar to that found on Mars.

Of course they do!
www.earth.com/news/lichens...

#lichens #fungi #mycology #fungifriends #mycology

AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

www.aaas.org/awards/newco...

A very well deserved award for the discovery of nitroplasts:
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Seed-Borne Microbial Inheritance and The Future of Crop Breeding Microbial Transmission in Plant Reproduction

open.substack.com/pub/samknowl...

"This microbial inheritance represents a critical yet historically underappreciated ecological dimension in plant reproductive biology."

"All chiral non-protein amino acids were racemic .., implying that terrestrial life’s chirality may not be due to bias in prebiotic molecules delivered by impacts. The relative abundances of amino acids .. suggest formation and alteration by low-temperature reactions, possibly in NH3-rich fluids."

Abundant ammonia and nitrogen-rich soluble organic matter in samples from asteroid (101955) Bennu - Nature Astronomy Rocks and dust from the asteroid Bennu contain some of the molecular building blocks of life on Earth, such as amino acids and nucleobases. They also carry ammonia that formed billions of years ago in...

Out today in 'Nature'.

"We detected amino acids (including 14 of the 20 used in terrestrial biology), amines, formaldehyde, carboxylic acids, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and N-heterocycles"

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Seems prebiotic, but quite a rich mix of 'building blocks' of life.

Here's a magnificent specimen for #slimemoldsunday !

Gotta get myself some of the ‘aroma of biochemically available high energy electrons’ !

Interesting work on biomineralization from Studio Esmee Geerken at the interface between minerals, and living organisms.
images.ctfassets.net/ikqtz4dcn2st...

esmeegeerken.com

What can this tell us about the emergence of life on earth?

#microbes #foraminifera #radiolaria #diatoms

In the beginning, there was …
… endosymbiosis.

Spectacular.

Wondrous thread(s).

The Lichen Forest of Catch Rock Catch Rock, a granitic outcrop, looking south toward Catchacoma Forest from where I was sitting facing north to the marsh, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu) . I’ve always been fascinated by the min…

A view of life both micro and macro from a granite-gneiss outcrop in the old-growth Catchacoma Forest, Ontario, Canada. Expertly and exquisitely described by @aliennextdoor.bsky.social

themeaningofwater.com/2024/12/01/t...

Whether you eat it or not, it’s good at least to know a little about the chemistry.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
From the abstract:
"analysis reveals that, despite different 3D architecture, the molecular organization of thylakoid membranes in vascular plants and green algae is strikingly similar."

#algae #photosynthesis #microscopy #plants

Several of these deserve to be on your must read list for the holidays.

Nature Is Always Listening: The Wondrous Science of How Mushrooms Respond to Music What playing music has to do with the happiness of the forest.

Maria Popova's 'The Marginalian' has an interesting recent piece covering the work of Paul Stamets and others on the ability of mycelium to detect and respond to vibrations and music.
www.themarginalian.org/2022/11/13/m...
#mycology #mushroommonday #fungifriends #musshroomsky #fungi

Charming and informative.

The Flow Country - The Flow Country The most intact and extensive blanket bog system in the world Stretching across Caithness and Sutherland in the far north of Scotland this vast expanse of blanket bog comprises a complex set of interl...

It's actually the world's most expansive peat bog! I think flow because of how vast it is and also how much water there is. Super beautiful. Here's some more info

theflowcountry.org.uk

Column: Green hydrogen or greenwashing? Mojave water scheme takes new twist For two decades, Cadiz has been trying to sell groundwater. Now it's getting into the clean energy business.

An interesting new twist for the troubled Cadiz project in the Mojave Desert.
www.latimes.com/environment/...

The lichens and fungi of Scotland's rainforest — Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest Lichens might look like plants, but they’re actually a symbiotic organism made up of a fungus and something else. Over 500 different types of lichen can be found in Scotland's rainforest.. Some are ex...

If you think lichens are just those flat, roundish grey marks you see on stones, you ain't seen nothing yet... #ScotlandsRainforest savingscotlandsrainforest.org.uk/wildlife/lic...

Q&A: Holobiont biology, a new concept for exploring how microbiome shapes evolution of visible life Microorganisms—bacteria, viruses and other tiny life forms—may drive biological variation in visible life as much, if not more, than genetic mutations, creating new lineages and even new species of an...

I am ridiculously excited about this study showing that our #microbiomes' #genomes are likely at least as important as our own #DNA to our #evolution. #proudtobeaholobiont #holobiont #science #microbiology #scicomm
phys.org/news/2024-11...

Symbiosis across the tree of life The aim of this collection is to showcase symbiotic relationships across the tree of life, exploring their evolutionary basis and underlying mechanisms.

Symbiosis nerds! Some of you might have seen a smattering of recent posts about papers in PLoS Biology, but it's worth looking at the entire special issue, called Symbiosis Across the Tree of Life (edited by Richards and Moran). There are so many interesting reviews, comments, etc. type things here!

Glorious grasslands - It’s not often you can see Microglossum Earthtongues with an Entoloma species.. And a Bee Orchid 👀
Cotswolds yesterday #Fungifriends #UKNature #Botany #FungiFriday #Mushrooms #Mycology

Precious Water in the Mojave — Transition Habitat Conservancy Learn about our water advocacy efforts in the Western Mojave Desert, with our protection of Bird Spring.

Continued progress by Transition Habitat Conservancy in protecting habitat for Desert Tortoises and other Mojave Desert wildlife.
www.transitionhabitat.org/updates-and-...