How plants unwittingly help fungal pathogens - Phys.org

Visual summary of the hypothesized environmental influences that made C. auris into the pathogen we observe today. Credit: mSphere (2026). DOI: 10.1128/msphere.00109-26 Why has the yeast Candida auris become a dangerous pathogen worldwide in just a few years? This question is on the minds of many researchers. Carla Schuh and Chaitanya Gokhale from the Biocentre at the University of Würzburg have now summarized the current state of knowledge in a review article in the journal mSphere. To that end, they analyzed around 180 studies by other researchers.

Dianjunus rex can weigh more than 2 kilograms. [Photo/Kunming Institute of Botany under the Chinese Academy of Sciences]Chinese scientists have discovered a previously unknown giant fungus in Yunnan province that constitutes a new fungal family after finding specimens that can grow up to 50 centimeters tall and weigh more than 2 kilograms. Dianjunus rex was identified by a research team led by Yu Fuqiang of the Kunming Institute of Botany under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with collaborators. Their findings were recently published in the journal Frontiers in Fungal Biology. The research established an entirely new fungal family, Dianjunaceae, highlighting how much remains unknown about fungal diversity even in a region renowned for its rich plant and animal life, according to the team. Dianjunus rex growing in a forest. [Photo/Kunming Institute of Botany under the Chinese Academy of Sciences]Researchers collected specimens from tropical and subtropical forests in Yunnan between August 2024 and July 2025. The fungi were found growing from the roots of recently dead trees and surrounding soil.

Beneath the ground, vast networks of fungi quietly support plant life and play an important role in regulating the planet's climate by helping move carbon into soils. Now, researchers have created the first global maps showing where these underground fungal networks are found and how much of them exist worldwide. The study, published in Science, focuses on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, a group of fungi that form partnerships with most plants on Earth. Alongside the research, scientists released an interactive visualization that allows users to explore the remarkable scale of this hidden underground infrastructure. The maps are expected to help researchers and policymakers identify areas where these fungal networks are thriving and where they may be under threat.

The first global map of subterranean fungi networks reveals how massive its reach is worldwide.