{"doi":"10.1038/srep05135","title":"Secret lifestyles of Neurospora crassa","abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p><jats:italic>Neurospora crassa</jats:italic> has a long history as an excellent model for genetic, cellular and biochemical research. Although this fungus is known as a saprotroph, it normally appears on burned vegetations or trees after forest fires. However, due to a lack of experimental evidence, the nature of its association with living plants remains enigmatic. Here we report that Scots pine (<jats:italic>Pinus sylvestris</jats:italic>) is a host plant for <jats:italic>N. crassa</jats:italic>. The endophytic lifestyle of <jats:italic>N. crassa</jats:italic> was found in its interaction with Scots pine. Moreover, the fungus can switch to a pathogenic state when its balanced interaction with the host is disrupted. Our data reveal previously unknown lifestyles of <jats:italic>N. crassa</jats:italic>, which are likely controlled by both environmental and host factors. Switching among the endophytic, pathogenic and saprotrophic lifestyles confers upon fungi phenotypic plasticity in adapting to changing environments and drives the evolution of fungi and associated plants.</jats:p>","journal":"Scientific Reports","year":2014,"id":604131,"datarank":0.7312795984801728,"base_score":4.875197323201151,"endowment":4.875197323201151,"self_citation_contribution":0.7312795984801728,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.7312795984801728,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":130,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":null,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":false,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":null,"fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":599938,"name":"Sun Hui","orcid":"0000-0002-5240-8951","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1395006,"name":"Jaeyoung Choi","orcid":"0000-0001-8264-1482","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1549951,"name":"Frederick O. Asiegbu","orcid":null,"position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1549952,"name":"Jari P. T. Valkonen","orcid":null,"position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":58090,"name":"Yong-Hwan Lee","orcid":null,"position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1549950,"name":"Hsiao-Che Kuo","orcid":null,"position":0,"is_corresponding":false}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":{"has_enrichment":true,"resolved":true,"title":"Secret lifestyles of Neurospora crassa","abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p><jats:italic>Neurospora crassa</jats:italic> has a long history as an excellent model for genetic, cellular and biochemical research. Although this fungus is known as a saprotroph, it normally appears on burned vegetations or trees after forest fires. However, due to a lack of experimental evidence, the nature of its association with living plants remains enigmatic. Here we report that Scots pine (<jats:italic>Pinus sylvestris</jats:italic>) is a host plant for <jats:italic>N. crassa</jats:italic>. The endophytic lifestyle of <jats:italic>N. crassa</jats:italic> was found in its interaction with Scots pine. Moreover, the fungus can switch to a pathogenic state when its balanced interaction with the host is disrupted. Our data reveal previously unknown lifestyles of <jats:italic>N. crassa</jats:italic>, which are likely controlled by both environmental and host factors. Switching among the endophytic, pathogenic and saprotrophic lifestyles confers upon fungi phenotypic plasticity in adapting to changing environments and drives the evolution of fungi and associated plants.</jats:p>","is_dataset_classified":null,"base_score":4.875197323201151,"endowment":4.875197323201151,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"views":0,"has_version_chain":false,"is_dataset":false,"is_oa":false,"pmid":"24875794","pmcid":"PMC4038807","openalex_id":"https://openalex.org/W2015460310","authors":[],"funders":[],"total_grants":0,"fwci":3.3766,"citation_percentile":0.92495087,"influential_citations":0,"citation_trend":[{"year":2014,"count":1},{"year":2015,"count":8},{"year":2016,"count":10},{"year":2017,"count":5},{"year":2018,"count":9},{"year":2019,"count":10},{"year":2020,"count":13},{"year":2021,"count":15},{"year":2022,"count":15},{"year":2023,"count":15},{"year":2024,"count":11},{"year":2025,"count":9},{"year":2026,"count":9}],"oa_status":"gold","license":"cc-by","oa_locations":[{"url":"https://www.nature.com/articles/srep05135.pdf","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"https://www.nature.com/articles/srep05135.pdf","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://www.nature.com/articles/srep05135","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://doi.org/10.1038/srep05135","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24875794","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/4038807","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10138/162563","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4038807","host_type":"Europe_PMC"},{"url":"https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4038807?pdf=render","host_type":"Europe_PMC"}],"fields_of_study":["Plant Pathogens and Fungal Diseases","Mycorrhizal Fungi and Plant Interactions","Plant-Microbe Interactions and Immunity","Adaptation, Physiological","Host-Pathogen Interactions","Models, Biological","Neurospora crassa","Pinus"],"mesh_terms":["Adaptation, Physiological","Models, Biological","Neurospora crassa","Pinus","Host-Pathogen Interactions"],"keywords":["Neurospora crassa","Crassa","Scots pine","Biology","Fungus","Host (biology)","Mycelium","Filamentous fungus","Pinus <genus>","Phenotypic plasticity","Ascomycota","Phenotype","Botany","Ecology","Gene","Genetics"],"sdg_mappings":[{"sdg_number":0,"sdg_label":"Life in Land"}],"linked_datasets":[],"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"database_accessions":[],"source":"live","citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-07-29T23:25:01.882177Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}