Dead man’s fingers, alien eggs, and zombies: the weird and charismatic lives of fungi

In a basement room under Washington State University's Pullman campus, Monique Slipher unwrapped odd fungal forms: finger-like organs, tentacle-studded galls, and the dried remains of "zombified" fungal-infected insects.

Slipher curates the Charles Gardner Shaw Mycological Herbarium, a vault of more than 76,000 fungal specimens kept for teaching and research to aid human health, agriculture, and the environment. Fungi of all shapes and sizes are preserved, from the cute to the eerie; thousands are yet to be catalogued.

"Fungi are more like animals, in some ways, than plants," said Slipher. "The colors, the shapes, the lifestyles are weird. To human conceptions, they're kind of strange."

Few people know of the herbarium, which Slipher has managed for the past decade. She considers herself a librarian of fungi, keeping specimens organized and records accessible in an online database.

Alphabetized by genus and species, specimens are kept in boxes, vials, and envelopes in a climate-controlled room at Vogel Hall. Scientists consult these specimens to identify and understand past and present organisms and are beginning to sequence DNA from them to assist research into crop disease resistance, ecosystem health, and climate resilience.

"The Shaw Herbarium is a treasure trove of biological and chemical diversity," said Assistant Professor Jana U'Ren, mycologist in the Department of Plant Pathology. "It's a time capsule of organisms we may no longer see as climate and forests change. Many may become extinct or at least very rare."

Nearly every herbarium specimen is a fruiting body - a reproductive organ, akin to the typical mushroom. The real body of the organism is the mycelia, non-reproductive tissues that form a network of hairlike threads. These hyphae burrow through leaf litter, soil, living and dead plants, and even insects to find or decompose food. Only when fungi are ready to reproduce do they sprout fruiting bodies, which launch spores to seed the next generation.

The Shaw Herbarium is a treasure trove of biological and chemical diversity. It's a time capsule of organisms we may no longer see as climate and forests change.

Assistant Professor Jana U'Ren, mycologist
WSU Department of Plant Pathology

Two especially large shelf fungi specimens collected by WSU scientists in the 1960s are covered in inked signatures of that year's class of forest-pathology students. About two feet wide and weighing a dozen pounds or more, these dense, woody conks came from vanishing old-growth conifers.

Many fungi have different life stages, moving back and forth between hosts. Cedar Apple Rust causes its hawthorn hosts to make galls, swellings from which tiny, tentacle-like fruiting bodies emerge. Black Knot, which wraps a black crust around cherry and plum branches, can be frequently found on wild or unkempt trees.

"Working here has made me more aware of the amazing diversity of fungi," she said. Slipher brought out an Earth Star fungus, whose petal-like extrusions resemble an alien egg, and a Jack-o'-lantern fungus, which when fresh has a cap the color of an orange pumpkin.

"If you see a fresh one out in the woods, you may notice that the gills glow green in the dark," she said. "But they're poisonous, so don't eat them!"

Packets of dead insects contain some of the so-called "zombie" fungi made famous by the game and streaming series "The Last of Us." Some species infect insects, changing their behavior to favor the fungus, which eventually erupts as a fruiting body. The collection includes a different Cordyceps species, used in traditional Chinese medicine and packaged for retail.

Among visual materials is an enlarged microscope image of a predatory fungus, Arthrobotrys conoides. It has coiled a loop around a microscopic worm and is devouring it from the inside out.

"Isn't that creepy?" Slipher said. "And so cool!"

[Link]Slipher displays specimens of Cedar-Apple rust at two different life stages on twigs of incense cedar as well as Douglas hawthorn leaves. The pathogen causes host plants to form abnormal growths called galls.[Link]A closeup of a Xylariales endophyte fungus that WSU mycologist Jana U'Ren cultured from a healthy pine needle. Dr. U'Ren has isolated more than 17,000 cultures of endophyte fungi - organisms that live hidden inside leaves.[Link]Curator Monique Slipher holds a collection specimen of Xylaria polymorpha, "Dead Man's Fingers."[Link]A common forest fungi, Xylaria polymorpha, better known as "Dead Man's Fingers," sprouts digit-like fruiting bodies from under rotting logs and decaying wood.[Link]Monique Slipher holds a big and bulbous specimen of Fomitopsis officinalis, a fungus found world-wide that causes rot in conifer species and has been used for medicinal purposes for centuries. This specimen came from an old-growth tree.Monique Slipher curates the Charles Gardner Shaw Mycological Herbarium, a vault of more than 76,000 fungal specimens kept for teaching and research to aid human health, agriculture, and the environment. Fungi of all shapes and sizes are preserved, from the cute to the eerie; thousands are yet to be catalogued.

U'Ren's favorite fungi are the forest dwelling Xylaria, which include Xylaria polymorpha, or "Dead Man's Fingers." These fruiting bodies sprout from beneath decomposing logs in clusters that resemble grasping claws.

"Some people think they're spooky," said U'Ren. She finds them charismatic and studies their dual, hidden lives.

Xylaria begin their journey as spores that enter openings in tree leaves, where they hide unseen for months. The fungus isn't causing disease in the plant and seems to be simply a houseguest.

"They don't go into the cells, they go between them," U'Ren said. "There's some debate about what they're doing inside. We don't know how they're communicating with the plant."

When the leaves fall, the fungus starts its second life in the litter, growing and feeding before sprouting its telltale finger-like fruiting bodies. Rain splashes spores back up onto the leaves, and the cycle begins again.

Working to understand how fungi like Xylaria interact with their hosts, U'Ren has genotyped hundreds of species and isolated more than 17,000 cultures of plant-associated fungal endophytes that dwell incognito in leaves.

"You can't see them, but inside there can be dozens of fungal species, many new to science," she said. "I use DNA sequencing to learn who these fungi are and how they fit into the fungal tree of life."

Many fungi, including the Xylaria genus, produce bioactive compounds that hold potential for health, including use as anti-malarial or cancer-fighting drugs. Others make insecticidal compounds that could be of use to agriculture.

"There's evidence that some endophytic fungi provide plants with resistance to drought and climate stress," she said. "I'm trying to find out how that works, and how these fungi communicate with plants to be able to get inside and hide there."

Fungi are everywhere, supporting the microbiome, contributing to a healthy ecosystem, plant productivity, and the food web. For U'Ren and Slipher, there is still much to learn from them in the wild and within the herbarium.

"These collections aren't just dusty specimens sitting in a box," U'Ren said. "They're a huge resource for science."

To arrange a visit or learn more about the Shaw Mycological Herbarium, send an email to [email protected] or call 509-335-5242.

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