New film captures mycorrhiza in motion for the first time
Dr Jennifer McGaley explains how her 56-hour marathon opened up the mysterious life of fungi.
Cambridge researchers elected as Fellows of the Royal Society 2026
Seven outstanding Cambridge researchers have this year been elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of sciences.
Eight Cambridge researchers elected as members of the European Molecular Biology Organisation
Eight Cambridge researchers - six from the University of Cambridge and two from the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology - are among the 63 scientists from around the world elected this year as Members and Associate Members of the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO).
‘Smoke detector’ enables fungal partnership that allowed plants to first survive on land
A protein that detects hormones in smoke has a much wider and more ancient role in the plant kingdom – detecting microscopic soil fungi which colonise plants and feed nutrients to their cells. This ancient symbiosis with soil fungi is thought to be how plants survived on land millions of years before they evolved roots.
Fungus enhances crop roots and could be a future 'bio-fertiliser'
“Ancient relationship” between fungi and plant roots creates genetic expression that leads to more root growth. Common fungus could one day be used as ‘bio-fertiliser’, replacing mined phosphate which is now depleted to the point of impending fertiliser crisis.