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Fungal graviresponses: Physiological and molecular insights from tissue reorientation in the gravity vector

Summary

Fungi can sense gravity and grow in specific directions to help disperse their spores effectively. They use several different biological ‘sensors’ like protein crystals and fat droplets that shift with gravity, triggering growth changes. This review explains how these sensing systems work at the cellular and molecular levels, and why understanding them matters for growing mushrooms and studying biology in space.

Background

Fungal graviresponses remain understudied compared to plants and animals despite their ecological and developmental significance. Fungi perceive gravity through diverse mechanisms including nuclei anchored by actin filaments, octahedral protein crystals, and lipid globules. These mechanisms generate sufficient potential energy to overcome thermal noise and establish detectable cellular gradients.

Objective

This review examines fungal graviresponses by integrating classical physiological studies with modern molecular insights. The focus encompasses molecular and cellular mechanisms of gravity perception, signal transduction pathways, species-specific variation in graviresponses, and integration with other environmental signals across fungal tissues.

Results

Fungal gravity sensing involves multiple mechanisms: protein crystals sediment within 50-200 seconds, nuclei generate ~10^-19 J of energy through actin-mediated anchoring, and lipid globules produce 10^-17 to 10^-16 J through buoyancy. Signal transduction involves calcium fluxes, reactive oxygen species, and vesicle trafficking. Gravitropic responses manifest through differential hyphal elongation and gravimorphogenetic changes in fruiting body development.

Conclusion

While advances in understanding fungal graviresponses have been made through integration of classical and molecular approaches, significant gaps remain in signal transduction mechanisms and morphogenetic regulation. Future research should employ single-cell transcriptomics, CRISPR-based tools, and comparative studies across diverse fungal species to address these knowledge gaps and understand gravitropic response integration with other environmental signals.
  • Published in:Mycology,
  • Study Type:Review,
  • Source: 10.1080/21501203.2025.2474154, PMID: 41334524
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