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The fastest short jump in nature: Progress in understanding the mechanism of ballistospore discharge

Year: 2023
Type: review
Abstract: The coalescence of fluid droplets on the surface of ballistospores powers their launch into the air at a speed of up to one meter per second with an acceleration of thousands of g's. This mechanism has been studied for more than a century and its solution is an emblem of mycological progress. Because the spores move too fast for the launch to be watched with a light microscope, early advances were made by inferences about what must be happening when the spores disappeared rather than direct observations. These investigations were followed by ingenious experiments that led to a satisfying explanation of ballistospory by the 1990s. Ultra-high-speed video recordings of spore discharge verified this model in the 2000s and subsequent research has shown how the mechanism has been adapted to launch spores over different distances. The available evidence suggests that many of these adaptations have been achieved by changes in spore morphology. Understanding the cellular and genetic basis of these modifications is one of the principal challenges for understanding the evolution of the basidiomycetes.
DOI: 10.1016/j.funbio.2023.01.001
Institution: Miami University
Language: English
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $2,000
OpenAlex ID: W4313627388
FWCI: 0.475
Cites: 43
Cited by: 18
Related to: 10