Butt rot is a disease of plants, mostly trees, caused by fungi. The fungus attacks the moist, poorly protected undersurface of tree trunk's thickest part, where the end of the stem makes contact with the soil. It may affect the roots as well, causing a disease known as root rot. It then moves up into the interior of the plant, producing a roughly conical column of dead, rotted plant matter, up to one and a half meters long in severe cases. Such an infection is likely to impair the transport properties of the xylem tissue found at the center of the stem. It also weakens the stem and makes the plant more vulnerable to toppling. One particularly virulent species of fungus associated with butt rot is Serpula himantioides.
Treponema is a genus of spiral-shaped bacteria. The major treponeme species of human pathogens is Treponema pallidum, whose subspecies are responsible for diseases such as syphilis, bejel, and yaws. Treponema carateum is the cause of pinta. Treponema paraluiscuniculi is associated with syphilis in rabbits. Treponema succinifaciens has been found in the gut microbiome of traditional rural human populations.
Dry rot is wood decay caused by one of several species of fungi that digest parts of the wood which give the wood strength and stiffness. It was previously used to describe any decay of cured wood in ships and buildings by a fungus which resulted in a darkly colored deteriorated and cracked condition.
Serpula lacrymans is one of the fungi that cause damage to timber referred to as dry rot. It is a basidiomycete in the order Boletales. The Serpula lacrymans has the ability to rapidly colonise sites through unique and highly specialised mycelium which also leads to greater degradation rates of wood cellulose.
The Serpulidae are a family of sessile, tube-building annelid worms in the class Polychaeta. The members of this family differ from other sabellid tube worms in that they have a specialized operculum that blocks the entrance of their tubes when they withdraw into the tubes. In addition, serpulids secrete tubes of calcium carbonate. Serpulids are the most important biomineralizers among annelids. About 300 species in the family Serpulidae are known, all but one of which live in saline waters. The earliest serpulids are known from the Permian.
Serpula is a genus of sessile, marine annelid tube worms that belongs to the family Serpulidae. Serpulid worms are very similar to tube worms of the closely related sabellid family, except that the former possess a cartilaginous operculum that occludes the entrance to their protective tube after the animal has withdrawn into it. The most distinctive feature of worms of the genus Serpula is their colorful fan-shaped "crown". The crown, used by these animals for respiration and alimentation, is the structure that is most commonly seen by scuba divers and other casual observers.
In 1758, in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, the Swedish scientist and taxonomist Carl Linnaeus described the class "Vermes" as:
Animals of slow motion, soft substance, able to increase their bulk and restore parts which have been destroyed, extremely tenacious of life, and the inhabitants of moist places. Many of them are without a distinct head, and most of them without feet. They are principally distinguished by their tentacles. By the Ancients they were not improperly called imperfect animals, as being destitute of ears, nose, head, eyes and legs; and are therefore totally distinct from Insects.
Serpula is a genus of fungi in the family Serpulaceae.
Austropaxillus is a genus of fungi in the family Serpulaceae, containing nine species found in Australia, New Zealand and South America.
Serpula vermicularis, known by common names including the calcareous tubeworm, fan worm, plume worm or red tube worm, is a species of segmented marine polychaete worm in the family Serpulidae. It is the type species of the genus Serpula and was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1767 12th edition of Systema Naturae. It lives in a tube into which it can retract.
Kuphus is a genus of shipworms, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Teredinidae. While there are four extinct species in the genus, the only extant species is Kuphus polythalamius. It is the longest bivalve mollusc in the world, where the only known permanent natural habitat is Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat in the Philippines.
Brachyspira innocens is a species of bacteria. It is thought to be a commensal bacterium.
Pulvinic acids are natural chemical pigments found in some lichens, derived biosynthetically from the aromatic amino acids phenylalanine and tyrosine, via dimerization and oxidative ring-cleavage of arylpyruvic acids, a process that also produces the related pulvinones.
Serpula himantioides is a species of fungus that causes damage to timber referred to as dry rot. It is a basidiomycete in the order Boletales. It has been found on all continents except for Antarctica. Recent molecular work demonstrates that S. himantioides is a species complex including multiple cryptic lineages.
Meroselenidium is a genus of parasitic alveolates in the phylum Apicomplexa. Species in this genus infect marine invertebrates.
Protula is a genus of marine polychaete worms in the family Serpulidae.
Hemitrichia is a genus of slime molds, of the family Trichiidae, found within the order Trichiida. It was first described by Josef Rostafinksi in 1873 and remains a well-defined genus of the slime molds. Hemitrichia species exhibit either plasmodiocarp or sporangium fruiting bodies, both of which are well-known and recognizable slime molds seen on multiple continents. The genus includes Hemtrichia serpula, known as the pretzel slime mold, an iconic and widespread species that has been used to examine speciation in slime molds.
Serpula columbiana, variously called the calcareous tubeworm, the plume worm, the fan worm, the limy tube worm and the red tube worm, is a species of segmented marine polychaete worm in the family Serpulidae. It is a cosmopolitan species that is found in most seas in the Northern Hemisphere including the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean.
