Organisms Have Sex In Your Nose

December 03, 2008

You may not be enjoying a good time now, but organisms in your nose could be having sex at this very moment.

(Credit: Library of Congress)

University of Nottingham and University College Dublin scientists have just discovered that a microscopic fungus called Aspergillus fumigatus has honest to goodness sex, as opposed to reproduction by creation of asexual spores. The fungus does produce spores, however, which feed off of dead and decaying matter. Each of us inhales the spores at an estimated daily rate of around 200 per nose.

Even Hugh Hefner wouldn't want this fungus at a party, though.

Aspergillus fumigatus helps to cause severe asthma and sinusitis in certain individuals. It's a leading cause of death for leukemia, bone marrow transplant and other immune deficient patients. Fungus expert Paul Dyer, who worked on the study, said, "This discovery is significant for providing both good and bad news. The bad news is that we now know that Aspergillus fumigatus can reproduce sexually, meaning that it is more likely to become resistant to antifungal drugs in a shorter period, and the sexual spores are better at surviving harsh environmental conditions. The good news is that we can use the newly discovered sexual cycle as a valuable tool in laboratory experiments to try to work out how the fungus causes disease and triggers asthmatic reactions. Once we understand the genetic basis of disease we can then look forward to devising methods to control and overcome the fungus."

Dyer and his team found out about the fungus sex after they induced mating in the species. They didn't dim the lights and put on a Gato Barbieri CD, but instead determined under high magnification that male and female cells fuse to produce the fungus spores.

The sex life of most fungi remains a mystery. Given the latest findings, which were recently published in the journal Nature, it's possible that many more microorganisms than previously thought possess a fully functional sexual reproductive cycle. Fungi can take over everything from your nose to a jar of grain in no time, as this video shows.  

Comments

[vimax]

Nice information this is really interesting