Fungal behaviour and fungal evolution: the role of internal factors

Abstract

With reference to fungal evolution, the role of natural selection versus internal factors is discussed in general terms. The inadequacy of natural selection as an explanation is highlighted with special reference to Alister Hardy’s concept of ‘behavioural selection’. Fungal behaviour is the basis of fungal evolution: the prime factor is an internal one and resides in the genome itself. There are countless such genomes, co-existing and co-evolving with other biota and with each other in a system that is balanced and self-sustaining. Each genome has a life style, a style unto itself, and has the potential to evolve on its own. Examples of speciation in the fungal kingdom are cited to show that fungal species are dynamic and are evolving as seen from allopatric speciation. Fungal behaviour rather than selection plays the prime role in their evolution. Evolution is not the product of a struggle for existence but a process of being and becoming. It is suggested that we de-link the question of survival of species (and their extinction) from the question of their origins.