Home

fungalphotosynthetic

Fungalphotosynthetic is a neologism used in speculative biology to describe organisms in which a fungal partner either carries out photosynthesis itself or hosts photosynthetic tissue within its own body to contribute to the organism's carbon gain. In standard biology, fungi are heterotrophs and obtain carbon from external organic sources; photosynthesis is performed by phototrophs such as plants, algae, and cyanobacteria. In lichens, the fungal partner forms a symbiosis with a photobiont (green alga or cyanobacterium) that performs photosynthesis for the consortium, while the fungus supplies structure and mineral nutrients. Fungalphotosynthetic discussions typically address hypothetical or experimental systems in which the fungal genome encodes chloroplast-like functions or houses a stable photosynthetic endosymbiont, leading to direct carbon fixation within the fungal lineage.

Potential mechanisms include endosymbiotic acquisition of a photosynthetic partner retained within fungal cells, horizontal transfer of

As of now, there is no widely recognized example of a fully fungal-encoded photosynthesis; the term remains

photosynthetic
genes
to
the
fungal
genome,
or
the
evolution
of
integrated
organelles
that
function
similarly
to
plastids.
Such
arrangements
would
pose
questions
about
metabolic
integration,
regulation
of
carbon
flow,
and
the
stability
of
endosymbionts
in
fungal
physiology.
primarily
theoretical
and
is
discussed
mainly
in
the
context
of
symbiosis,
plastid
evolution,
and
the
broader
study
of
mixotrophy.
See
also
lichens
and
endosymbiosis.