The Triumph of the Fungi: A Rotten History

212 Pages·2006·2.89 MB·English

by  Nicholas P. Money

The Triumph of the Fungi
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The Triumph of the Fungi
A Rotten History
NICHOLAS P. MONEY
2007
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Money,NicholasP.
Thetriumphofthefungi:arottenhistory/
NicholasP. Money.
p.cm.
Includesindex.
ISBN-13978–0–19–518971–1
ISBN0–19–518971–X
1.Fungaldiseasesofplants—History.
2.Fungi—History. I.Title.
SB733.M59 2006
632′.4—dc222005037223
987654321
For Adam, my stepson
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Preface
This book is concerned with the most devastating fungal diseases in history. These are the plagues of trees and crop
plants, causedbyinvisiblesporesthathavereshaped entirelandscapes anddecimatedhumanpopulations. Everyoneis
aware of the Irish potato famine, but while many other fungal diseases are less familiar, they have had similarly
disastrous consequences. TheTriumphoftheFungifocuses onthefascinating biology ofthewell-knownand lesser-known
diseases.Italsotellsthestoriesofthescientistsinvolvedintheirstudyandofthepeopledirectlyaffectedbythelossof
forest trees includingthe chestnut, and cash crops such as coffeeand cacao. Although a book about fungal epidemics
isn'ttailor-madefor an intoxicatingand uplifting read, thechronicleofthemycologistsand plantpathologists engaged
in combatting these diseases is one of human optimism (often encouraged by desperate eccentricity). In a surprisingly
brieftime,humanknowledgeofthefungithatinfectplantshasevolvedfromBiblicalsuperstitiontotherecognitionof
the true nature of plant disease and, more recently, to a sense of awe for the sophistication of these organisms. The
crucial issue of human culpability in these fungal epidemics is addressed in the book's closing chapter.
A note about the titleof the book seems appropriate. In the second year of World War II, the engineer, novelist,and
plant pathologist Ernest C. Large published a marvelous book, The Advance of the Fungi (New York: Henry Holt and
Company, 1940). Large introduced scientists to thestudy of plant diseases witha refreshing mixture of technical rigor
peppered with humorous asides. The Advance of the Fungi served as the introduction to fungal biology for many of the
plantpathologiststhatstaffed universitydepartments andgovernment-fundedlaboratories throughoutthesecond half
of the twentieth century. A second book, Mushrooms and Toadstools (London: Collins, 1953), published in 1953 by John
Ramsbottom, served
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as a similarly good-humored and inspiring source for mycologists. Ramsbottom's book served as a model (albeit
unconsciously)for myfirst book, Mr.Bloomfield'sOrchard(NewYork: Oxford UniversityPress, 2002).Thefocusofboth
works, separated by a half-century of discoveries, was on topics such as fungal growth and mushroom function. In
similar fashion, TheTriumphoftheFungi updates Large's classic by offering a personal viewof the continuing advance of
the fungi in the last 65 years and by revisiting the history of the scientific study of plant disease.
IthinkthatLargewouldapproveofthenewtitle.Since1940, fungihavecontinuedtheiradvance,attacking everycrop
plantthatwecultivate,andexploitingnewhostswhereversporesareintroduced.Throughtheircontinuedadvance,the
fungi have proven unstoppable. Fungi are the most important cause of plant disease and cause billions of dollars of
crop losses every year. Despite fantastically effective fungicides, the continual development of resistant varieties of
crops, and theimplementationof techniques of genetic modification,blights, rusts, and rots abound. After more than
a century of concerted scientific effort, epidemics like potato blight, chestnut blight, and Dutch elm disease remain
incurable. The best we can do is to continue the expensive fight to limit the negative consequences of fungal activity
throughout the biosphere. On a more positive note, biologists have been successful in documenting the essential
nature of our varied interactions with fungi. It is clear that we would find the planet uninhabitable without fungi.
The presentation of the epidemic diseases in TheTriumphoftheFungi does not followtheir historical appearance nor the
history of their recognition by humans. Instead, the book opens with the story of chestnut blight, the fungal disease
that reshaped the forests of the eastern United States in the twentieth century (chapter 1). It is difficult for us to
appreciate the overwhelming impact of this disease for the simple reason that few of us were born early enough to
have seen a giant American chestnut. (Incidentally, 2006 is the 100th anniversary of the first description of the blight
fungus.)Chapter2describesanequallydestructivefungusthatannihilatedelmtreesafewyearsaftertheappearanceof
chestnut blight. More than any other fungal epidemic, Dutch elm disease has changed the appearance of villages,
towns, and cities in Europe and North America. Chapters 3, 4, and 5 address fungal epidemics of three tropical
commodity crops: coffee, cacao, and rubber. These diseases are united by the spread of plantation
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agriculture by European colonists in the nineteenth century, and they illustrate the extreme vulnerability of
monoculture agriculture tofungal attack. Theorigins ofthescientific study of plant diseases are addressed in chapters
6 and 7, beginning with the attempted placation of the Roman mildew god, to seventeenth-century experiments on
plant diseases and the eventual development of the branch of science called plant pathology. The diseases that were
responsiblefor thebirth of plant pathology werethesmuts and rusts of cereal crops (chapter6) and the potato blight
pathogen that caused the Irish famine (chapter 7). The final chapter (chapter 8) explores the future of the ongoing
competition between humans and fungi for control of the biosphere. The fossil record shows that fungi have livedin
intimateassociationswithplantsfor thelast400millionyears.Althoughmanyoftheearliestfungiengagedinmutually
supportiverelationships with land plants, others were probably attacking plants in the Silurian mud in much the same
way pathogens do today. But although there may be nothing truly novel about emerging epidemic diseases such as
sudden oak death, this perspective does little to alleviate concern about the future health of forests or the effects of
fungionagriculture.Ihopethatyou'llenjoymytakeonthestoriesinthisbookas muchas Ihaverelished delvinginto
this rich archive of microbiology.