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Fungi

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss fungi, organisms that play a crucial role in the earth's ecosystems.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss fungi. These organisms are not plants or animals but a kingdom of their own. Millions of species of fungi live on the Earth and they play a crucial role in ecosystems, enabling plants to obtain nutrients and causing material to decay. Without fungi, life as we know it simply would not exist. They are also a significant part of our daily life, making possible the production of bread, wine and certain antibiotics. Although fungi brought about the colonisation of the planet by plants about 450 million years ago, some species can kill humans and devastate trees.

With:

Lynne Boddy
Professor of Fungal Ecology at Cardiff University

Sarah Gurr
Professor of Food Security in the Biosciences Department at the University of Exeter

David Johnson
N8 Chair in Microbial Ecology at the University of Manchester

Producer: Victoria Brignell.

Available now

49 minutes

Last on

Thu 15 Feb 2018 21:30
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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LINKS AND FURTHER READING

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READING LIST:

Richard Bardgett, The Biology of Soil: A Community and Ecosystem Approach (Oxford University Press, 2005)

Lynne Boddy and Max Coleman (eds.), From Another Kingdom: The Amazing World of Fungi (Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 2010)

Joseph Heitman et al (eds.), The Fungal Kingdom (ASM Press, 2018)

Aya Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔi and Michael Worboys, Fungal Disease in Britain and the United States 1850-2000: Mycoses and Modernity (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013)

S.E. Smith and D.J. Read, Mycorrhizal Symbiosis: third edition (Academic Press, 2008)

Brian Spooner and Peter Roberts, Fungi – Collins New Naturalist Library, vol 96 (Harper Collins, 2005)

Credits

Presenter Melvyn Bragg
Interviewed Guest Lynne Boddy
Interviewed Guest Sarah Gurr
Interviewed Guest David Johnson
Producer Victoria Brignell

Broadcasts

  • Thu 15 Feb 2018 09:00
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
  • Thu 15 Feb 2018 21:30
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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  • In Our Time

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas, people and events that have shaped our world.