Most plant-friendly fungi are a mystery to scientists

By Katie Field, Professor in Plant-Soil Processes, University of Sheffield
Thomas Parker, Upland Ecologist, James Hutton Institute

If you walk through a forest and look down, you might think you’re stepping on dead leaves, twigs and soil. In reality, you’re walking over a vast underground patchwork of fungal filaments, supporting life above ground.

These are mycorrhizal fungi, which form partnerships with the roots of nearly all plants. Found everywhere from tropical rainforests to boreal forests and farmland, these underground fungi sustain life above ground, often without us realising they’re even there.

A recent…

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