Fungi play a major role in the biogeochemical cycle of forest ecosystems by decomposing organic substances derived from plant remains such as deciduous leaves and dead trees and by coexisting with living trees and mycorrhiza.Mycelium of fungi scattered in the soil searches for new dead trees and becomes established, but the cognitive behavior of such mycelium has not been investigated so far.However, in recent years, it has been shown that fungi also have decision-making and memory abilities.

　This time, a piece of wood (source) on which the mycelium was established was placed in a soil petri dish, and two and 2 weeks after the mycelium had grown on the soil, a new piece of wood (food) was placed at a distance on the soil. I made mycelium "find" it.After culturing for a while, the mycelium that found the new food began to settle on the new food.

　After culturing in this state for about a month, the mycelium that received food after being impatient for 14 weeks immediately moved from the original piece of wood to the piece of wood that received food, but the mycelium that received food did not move after 2 weeks.If fed late, it is probable that an aggressive move to a new piece of wood occurred in order to exhaust the resources of the original piece of wood.

　The results of this study show that mycelium changes its behavior toward new food according to the amount of resources it has.In the future, by presenting various issues to mycelium, the possibility and mechanism of fungal intelligence will be clarified, which will be useful for elucidating the evolutionary origin of intelligence and understanding the material cycle of ecosystems.

Paper information:[Journal of Fungi] Timing of resource addition affects the migration behavior of wood decomposer fungal mycelia