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The Beet: A Podcast For Plant Lovers

How Mycorrhizal Relationships Work

The Beet: A Podcast For Plant Lovers

Epic Gardening

Home & Garden, Education, Leisure, How To

4.81.6K Ratings

🗓️ 16 May 2023

⏱️ 12 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Dr. Gordon Walker and I explore how mycorrhizal relationships work. In this episode, you will gain a better understanding of the mycorrhizal relations between plants and fungi. Connect With Dr. Gordon Walker:  Dr. Gordon Walker is originally from Cambridge, MA but came to California to attend UC Santa Cruz, where he got a B.S. in Biochemistry and spent his free time sailing, scuba diving, and home brewing. Inspired to study fermentation, Gordon came to UC Davis and joined Dr. Linda Bisson's laboratory to focus on the biochemistry, genetics, and ecology of yeast in wine. After graduating with his Ph.D. in 2016, Gordon worked two harvests at Opus One helping to pioneer the use of novel fermentation control technology. He then returned to UC Davis to do post-doctorate work with Dr. Ron Runnebaum focused on how site specificity and elemental composition can affect fermentation behavior. Since he was a kid, Gordon has harbored a deep fascination with all things fungi; inspired by puffballs, chicken of the woods, truffles, and the microbial mishmash that produces sour beers. While living in New Zealand after finishing his PhD, Gordon took on the new hobby of mushroom foraging and started documenting his finds on Instagram. Through his social media (@FascinatedByFungi) he has reached millions around the globe, sharing the amazing diversity of colors, form, and function in the fungi kingdom. He is a renowned science communicator, published academic author, and award-winning speaker. His goal is to teach the world about mushrooms; inspiring others to take an active role in protecting nature and building a more sustainable future. Instagram  Facebook YouTube  TikTok Pinterest Patreon Website Buy Birdies Garden Beds Use code EPICPODCAST for 5% off your first order of Birdies metal raised garden beds, the best metal raised beds in the world. They last 5-10x longer than wooden beds, come in multiple heights and dimensions, and look absolutely amazing. Click here to shop Birdies Garden Beds Buy My Book My book, Field Guide to Urban Gardening, is a beginners guide to growing food in small spaces, covering 6 different methods and offering rock-solid fundamental gardening knowledge: Order on Amazon Order a signed copy Follow Epic Gardening YouTube Instagram Pinterest Facebook Facebook Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Welcome back to Mushroom Week here on the Epic Gardening podcast, my friends.

0:16.1

We have Dr. Gordon Walker back on the show, A Biochemist and a Mushroom God.

0:21.8

At least my Mushroom God right now.

0:23.9

So let's talk Gordon.

0:24.9

I know we talked about my ceiling a little bit yesterday.

0:28.5

We talk about this actually a lot, but not in as great of depth as we're about to dive

0:31.8

into.

0:33.1

So what should we know, psychologically speaking, about how does that actually work?

0:37.7

My ceiling.

0:38.7

It's, I mean, it's, or sorry, the micro-risal association of my ceiling, yeah, that's

0:43.6

really good.

0:44.6

Yeah, yeah.

0:45.6

So they're little filamentous threads that are down in the soil.

0:49.0

And the basic concept is that fungi and plants came to land together.

0:55.6

If anything, fungi maybe came a little bit before plants, but basically plants in fungi

1:00.2

had been locked in sort of a antagonistic slash mutualistic war with each other for literally

1:06.6

millions, hundreds of millions of years.

1:09.8

And they've co-evolved to actually work together in sort of this mutualistic symbiotic association.

1:16.8

And so like 90% of the plants on earth have micro-risal associations.

1:21.2

And the purpose of the micro-risay on the roots is to vastly extend the surface area of

1:27.3

the roots.

1:28.3

And plants are dependent on their capacity to take up nutrients and water from the soil

...

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