Landing on Mars once felt like a distant dream. Now, space agencies have sent rovers and landers to explore the Red Planet ...

Have you ever noticed the strange, colorful splotches clinging to rocks, tree bark, or even old fences after a rainy day?

The chemical basis of the lichen’s resistance lies in its UV-opaque cortex, a structural layer enriched with phenolic lichen ...

Many lichens are composed of layers of fungus and algae. I like to picture this as an algae sandwich, with the fungus being the bread and the algae the peanut butter and jelly. Of course, this ...

Lichens are a partnership between fungus and algae, but recent research discovered they also have yeast and bacteria.

The grey patches are likely lichen, a combination of a fungus and an algae. It is harmless to you and the tree. It is common ...

Lichens are symbiotic organisms of fungi, algae and possibly yeast that live off each other, not your tree.

A walk in the desert and a curious discovery could have revealed that the secrets of alien life grow in the harshest ...

Pengel calls this the ‘lichen sandwich’: you have the fungus, the algae, and then, more fungus. “When the fungus gets wet, it tends to become transparent.

The mystery of Lepraria's sex life could help illuminate the bigger picture of lichens' identity as a partnership between a fungus and algae or bacteria that can perform photosynthesis.

The fungus protects the algae, and provides the lichen's structure. Lichen can also act as a sort of air conditioner for the forest: it stores and releases moisture, making the air wet, dry, warm ...

Lichens are symbionts, or two organisms that are in a cooperative relationship. There is a fungal component (most are about 90 percent fungus) and a photosynthetic component (algae or cyanobacteria).