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What is common corn smut? Common corn smut is a fungal disease that affects field, pop, and sweet corn, as well as the corn relative teosinte (Zea mexicana).

A rare case of a sexually-transmitted infection (STI) that is known by some as a "ringworm" was reported in California. In fact, health officials say this ringworm STI is not only rare for the state of California, but it also marks the first reported case in the entire United States

With the arrival of a new, highly contagious fungal infection in NYC, health experts are sharing what you need to know to keep yourself safe. An unidentified NYC man in his 30s was diagnosed with the first US-reported case of Trichophyton mentagrophytes type VII, a rare, sexually transmitted form of ringworm. Details of his infection were shared Wednesday in the journal JAMA Dermatology. “The first thing to note is that we do not have evidence this infection is endemic in the US or even widespread in the US,” Dr. Avrom S. Caplan, who led the study of the man’s case,...

The World Health Organization warns fungal infections are becoming a 'major threat' to public health and more common worldwide as the changing climate makes environments more suitable for them. As hit show The Last of Us heightens fungal fears Researchers developed a vaccine highly effective against fungal infections The NXT-2 shot prevented severe infection in all animals it was tested on Scientists have developed a first-of-its-kind vaccine to prevent severe symptoms from hard-to-treat fungal infections. In a study on animals, the shot - made by researchers from the University of Georgia (UGA) - worked against the three most common families...

Boric acid is a low-toxicity mineral with insecticidal, fungicidal, and herbicidal properties. Boric Acid, which kills roaches, water bugs, ants, fleas and silverfish. With boric acid powder, insects walk through the dust, ingest it, and die within hours. While boric acid is a pesticide, you'll find boric acid used in fertilizers, household cleaners, laundry detergents, and even personal care products. You also may be surprised to know that boric acid is a component of a baby's mattress, and even food, but it is! Boric acid is an antiseptic. The trick is that you must use boric acid in a diluted...

The fungus, a strain of a kind of yeast known as Candida auris, has been reported in a dozen countries on five continents starting in 2009, where it was first found in an ear infection in a patient in Japan. Since then, the fungus has been reported in Colombia, India, Israel, Kenya, Kuwait, Pakistan, South Korea, Venezuela and the United Kingdom. Unlike garden variety yeast infections, this one causes serious bloodstream infections, spreads easily from person to person in health-care settings, and survives for months on skin and for weeks on bed rails, chairs and other hospital equipment. Some strains...

Researchers from North Carolina State University and the University of Colorado, Boulder, have developed a statistical model that allows them to tell where a dust sample came from within the continental United States based on the DNA of fungi found in the sample. The primary goal of the research was to develop a new forensic biology tool for law enforcement or archaeologists. "But it may also give us a greater understanding of the invisible ecosystems of microbial life that we know are all around us, but that we don't fully comprehend," says Neal Grantham, a Ph.D. student in statistics at...

Plants Use Underground 'Fungal Internet' to Communicate by Jeffrey Tomkins, Ph.D. * Researchers have just documented how plants use underground fungal networks to warn neighboring plants of impending insect attack, uniquely illustrating the complex and highly designed interconnected cooperation found in nature. The research study—just published in the July, 2013 issue of Ecology Letters—is the first such report that confirms and reveals how plants have uniquely co-designed physiologies that internetwork with other plants using an underground fungus as an information conduit.1 This amazing and intricate system allows the plants to readily and effectively communicate as a community, like a natural...

Researchers at The University of Manchester funded by the Fungal Research Trust have discovered millions of fungal spores right under our noses - in our pillows. Aspergillus fumigatus, the species most commonly found in the pillows, is most likely to cause disease; and the resulting condition Aspergillosis has become the leading infectious cause of death in leukaemia and bone marrow transplant patients. Fungi also exacerbate asthma in adults. The researchers dissected both feather and synthetic samples and identified several thousand spores of fungus per gram of used pillow - more than a million spores per pillow. Fungal contamination of bedding...