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What we don't like about fungi is that they attack plants.
But how? For instance it's not like they teeth.
[scream]
Well, not most of them. There is the red toothed fungus.
Fungi plant attack follows a distinct disease cycle.
It starts when a flying fungal spore lands on a plant surface.
This is called innoculation.
Next comes adhesion.
This is when the fungal spore exudes a glue.
This sticks to the plant tight enough so that even rain won't knock it off.
Some spores can even stick to teflon.
Germination is next. Here the fungal spore takes up water and a germ tube emerges.
This is like fungus birth. Now the newborn fungus is hungry and needs food.
Both fungi and fungal-like organisms use hyphae, or little threads, to spread in plants to obtain nutrients.
These threads grow over the surface and release enzymes to break the plant down into smaller parts the fungus can eat.
By doing this they damage or destroy the plant,
or make it so ugly you just wish it would die.
The germ tube then enters the pant either by poking directly through the epidermis
or by going through stomata or wound. And what happens then, infection.
The fungus spreads in the plant by growing into or between cells and then invading the area.
Finally the fungus produces new spores that are released on the plant surface.
This starts the whole cycle over again.