Appreciation: Project seeks to learn how to grow super mushrooms, with termites as teachers

Project seeks to learn how to grow super mushrooms, with termites as teachers​

 

Thanks for sharing this @Junglekeeper!

Intriguing for many reasons ... I think mushroom cultivation is imporant, so I hope they are successful in this project.

I am more familar with the ant/fungi relationship than the termite/fungi one, but I think they share the approach that they are both cultivating mycelia rather than fruiting bodies (of the usual type), and as well that the co-evolution has resulting in both organisms influencing each other. Attine ants prevent their fungus from fruiting ... termites clearly don't, but I suspect they are unlikely to be encouraging it. I mention this as there are so many complexities in this loooooong term relationship ... that the aspect of the project to learn from termites is likely to be complicated by the aspects of processes that we would not want to adopt from the termites, as they would not necessarily be encouraging fruiting.

Interesting stuff!