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Nutrition

When it comes to nutrition, fungi do things quite a bit different than us humans. Fungi produce exoenzymes that help the fungus digest material before they consume it. The Hypholoma fasciculare fungi, like other fungi, are detrivores, which means they survive by eating dead or decaying material.  However, a unique thing about this fungus is that it's exoenzymes not only break down the first layer of dead plants and wood, but they also break down the lignin within the wood. This a trait that is almost completely unique to this fungi.

This fungi is, in fact, so good at breaking down materials around it, that it actually can break down litter. The three classes of exoenzymes that the sulfur tuft contain are laccases, lignin peroxydases, and manganese peroxydases. These exoenzymes can break down things that very few organisms in the world can, which causes this fungus to be such an effective detrivore.



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