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Related Experiment Videos

Mushroom stem cells.

Nicholas P Money1

  • 1Department of Botany, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056, USA. moneynp@muohio.edu

Bioessays : News and Reviews in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology
|September 27, 2002
PubMed
Summary
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Fungal cells, unlike animal cells, exhibit remarkable totipotency, functioning like stem cells throughout their life cycle. This developmental flexibility is observed in various basidiomycete fungi, including mushrooms.

Area of Science:

  • Mycology
  • Developmental Biology
  • Cell Biology

Background:

  • Animals rarely possess totipotent cells, with most cells undergoing differentiation.
  • Fungi, particularly basidiomycetes, present a unique case with widespread cellular totipotency.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the totipotent nature of fungal cells in basidiomycete fruiting bodies.
  • To highlight the lack of cellular differentiation and meristems in fungal development.

Main Methods:

  • Comparative analysis of fungal and animal cell development.
  • Observation of fruiting body formation in basidiomycete fungi.

Main Results:

  • Fungal cells, including those in mature mushrooms, retain totipotency.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Multicellular fungal fruiting bodies develop from undifferentiated hyphae.
  • Visible cellular differentiation is minimal in fungal development.

    • Conclusions:

    • Fungal cells possess a high degree of totipotency, analogous to stem cells.
    • This totipotency is conserved across diverse basidiomycete fruiting body structures.
    • Sponges are the only animals with comparable developmental flexibility, suggesting a potential evolutionary link.