DISCOVER MAGAZINE - Although wildfires are a natural and recurring phenomenon in certain regions, climate change is intensifying their impact. Each year, fires now swallow around four percent of Earth’s land surface, leaving behind vast, unrecognizable charred landscapes.
While most living organisms succumb to the flames, certain plants need regular fires to help bring life back to dead-looking environments. Alongside plants, some fungi have become fire lovers, too.
Now, researchers at the University of California, Riverside, have published a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences describing how inconspicuous fungi hidden in soil evolved to protect themselves from heat and how they acquired the genes that allow them to munch on charcoal.