Termitomyces is a genus of basidiomycete fungi known as termite mushrooms in Lyophyllaceae family[3] farmed by fungus-growing termites.[note 1] The fungi and the termites interdepend to live,[4][5] as the termites house and culture the fungi, and the fungi in turn provide foods for the termites. Often after a raining,[6] the fungi grow mushrooms, which are edible and highly regarded for their flavor.[7]
Morphology
Termitomyces includes the largest edible mushroom in the world, Termitomyces titanicus of West Africa and Zambia, whose cap reaches 1 metre (3.28ft) in diameter.[8] It also includes Termitomyces microcarpus that grows caps of a few centimeters in diameter.
Life as a Termitomyces fungus
Comb-associated saprotrophy
Some chamber(s) of the fungus-growing termite nest each contains an object, called comb or fungus garden, where the fungus dwells.[9] The comb is formed from the termites' excreta – the termites collect and chew up dead wood, leaf litter and other vegetable debris, depositing their primary faeces, which contain asexual Termitomyces spores the termites previously consumed, as new portions of the fungus garden.[10] The spores comes from another object the termites consumed – little balls that grow on the comb called spherules.[note 2] Thereafter, the Termitomyces fungus grows through the comb. Old combs are eaten by termites as well.[11]
Opportunist antagonist Pseudoxylaria
Fungi of Pseudoxylaria (termite-associated Xylaria, a subgenus of Xylaria) are found in fungus-growing termite combs.[12] Suppressed by fungus-growing termites,[13] they flourish at the price of the Termitomyces fungus when the termite nest is deteriorating or deserted.[14][12]
Reproduction
When a new termite colony is established, in most cases, the Termitomyces fungus is introduced through the activities of the termites collecting spores from the environment.[5] For spreading spores, the Termitomyces fungus forms mushrooms. For most species, the fungus grows rooting stipes (pseudorhizas) to the surface of the ground, where mushrooms are formed.[15] For Termitomyces microcarpus, the mushrooms grow from fungus garden fragments that are carried outside the nest by worker termites.[16] On the other hand, Termitomyces cryptogamus is not found to grow a mushroom in nature.[note 3][17]
From 1955 to 1969 Arthur French [19] worked in Uganda (as a hobby) on the subject of fungi and termites. Some scientific literature about these fungal species existed previously, but these texts failed to adequately discuss the relationship between termites and their fungal symbiotes, while the various edible varieties were merely termed "termite mushrooms." French conducted some investigations with the help of the elderly Baganda women who gathered termite mushrooms, and published his findings.
Culinary use
They are foraged in Malaysia known as cendawan busut ("mound mushroom"). Tamil rubber tappers in Selangor long time ago would find a lot of T. schimperi growing in estate environments not long after raining.[20]:81 They are widely eaten across India.[21][22][23]
— The original specimens were identified as termite mushrooms by Petch (1912).[26] However, this identification failed to take their microscopic morphology into account.[27] In a position outside the Termitomyces genus;[27] identified by Pegler (1986) as the same species as Leucocoprinus cepistipes.[28]
↑ Koné NA, Dosso K, Konaté S, Kouadio JY, Linsenmair KE (2011). "Environmental and biological determinants of Termitomyces species seasonal fructification in central and southern Côte d'Ivoire". Insectes Sociaux. 58 (3): 371–82. doi:10.1007/s00040-011-0154-1.
↑ Van de Peppel LJ, De Beer ZW, Aanen DK, Auxier B (2022). "Termitomyces cryptogamus sp. nov. associated with Macrotermes natalensis in Africa". Mycotaxon. 137 (1): 41–50. doi:10.5248/137.41.
↑ Heim R. (1942). "Nouvelles études descriptives sur les agarics termitophiles d'Afrique tropicale". Archives du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle (in French). 18 (6): 107–66.
↑ French A. (1993). "The Mushroom-Growing Termites of Uganda". Petits Propos Culinaires (44): 35–41.
↑ Hilton, Roger N.; Dhitaphichit, Pannee (1993). "Procedures in Thai Etnomycology". Natural History Bulletin of the Siam Society. 41 (2): 75–92.
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