Hypha
A tubular cell or chain, often 2–10 µm wide, that branches into a mycelium.
Darker cells mean a higher score for this topic on that metric.
Familiarity80
Medical weight60
Benefit70
Risk48
Research72
Live debate28
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Last reviewed Sources & creditsMedia creditsMethodology
Quick answers
Where should I start with Fungi?
Read Identity → How they live → Body & health, then use compare rails.
Is this page advice for Fungi?
Public-health education — not a care plan, prescription, or outbreak briefing.
What does the local lens add?
It names everyday desks for Tree of microbes before English norms look universal.
Are the scores a ranking of Fungi?
No — editorial 0–100 browsing aids inside this atlas only.
How do I compare Fungi to neighbours?
Use related cards and best-of / quiz rails after the first three chapters.
Which chapter is densest?
How they live and Body & health carry mechanisms; skim Identity first.
A hyphal tip is a construction site: vesicles deliver wall material while turgor pushes into new territory. Behind the tip, septa and pores manage traffic.
Sexual cycles in Ascomycota and Basidiomycota produce asci or basidia. Many species also clone themselves for years without a mushroom.
Parts
Yeast cell
Typically 3–5 µm. Saccharomyces cerevisiae became the first eukaryotic genome in 1996.
Chitin wall
A stress-bearing mesh. Echinocandin drugs target glucan synthesis in some pathogens — clinic, not kitchen chemistry.
Spitzenkörper
A vesicle organising centre at many hyphal tips, visible in textbooks as the growth engine.
Fruiting body
Mushroom, morel, puffball — temporary spore towers. The durable self is usually underground or in wood.
Ergosterol membrane
Fungal membranes use ergosterol, not cholesterol. Azole medicines exploit that difference in invasive disease.
Life cycle
1Spore landing
A spore meets moisture and a usable carbon source. Most landings fail.
2Vegetative growth
Hyphae or budding yeasts claim the resource. Competition with bacteria is chemical as well as spatial.
3Fruiting or sporulation
Starvation, light and mating types can trigger mushrooms or conidia. Timing is ecology.
4Dispersal
Wind, rain splash, insects. A new patch of wood or a new host starts the map again.
When a loaf moulds, you are watching sporulation after the invisible network already ate the crumb.
Keep exploring
More in Tree of microbes
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Familiarity 58