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HOW IS MYCELIUM FORMED? Mycelium forms when mushroom spores germinate and develop filaments that form a sophisticated network of neurological membranes. Mycelium has many things in common with humans. Its membranes have stomachs, as well as lungs that inhale oxygen. Mycelium also has similar pathogens – such as bacteria. Thanks to fungi, human beings obtained their first antibiotic – penicillin. As mycelia grow, they fuse with other mycelia in the soil, forming small gaps
214 / OCTOBER 2021 ESSENTIAL MAGAZINE
where water collects and microbial communities thrive. By maintaining a solid structure within the soil, they reduce erosion while keeping the earth moist and full of nutrients.
dead plant matter, since it breaks down organic matter into vital nutrients for plant growth.
PLANTS AND TREES NEED MYCELIUM TO GROW
Around 95% of the world’s THE ORIGINS OF MYCELIUM plant species form Around 1.3 billion years ago – ‘mycorrhizal relationships’ hundreds of million years prior (symbiotic associations) with to the arrival of plants – fungi fungi. As mycelium grows in left the oceans and colonised the earth, it mines minerals the land, breaking down rock such as potassium, calcium, into soil (mycelium contains copper, phosphorus, and acids that decompose rock). zinc, making them available Without mycelium, the forest to plants. Moreover, when floor would be covered in mycelium colonises the roots
