At the WLBOTT Ag Extension Station, we’re trying to solve a mystery today.
Recently, Elder MJ noticed these semi-spheres on a concrete pad at the WLBOTT Rodeo Fairgrounds near our central Texas HQ. You will notice that there are also some snail shells mixed in. There may or may not be squirrel involvement.
(Sudoku for scale)
Google image search didn’t produce a direct match, but it led us to a research paper by the Shandong Peanut Research Institute in Qingdao, China.
Transcriptomic–Proteomic Analysis Revealed the Regulatory Mechanism of Peanut in Response to Fusarium oxysporum
This article (the 5% we understood) impressed upon us the need for basic scientific research. The researchers were able to determine, at a very fundamental level, how peanut cells reacted to this fungal infections.
Not To Be Confused
The Shandong Peanut Research Institute should not be confused with the Institute of Edible Fungi, at the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
Institute of Edible Fungi (IEF), located in the Yangtze River Delta and on the coast of the East China Sea, was founded in 1960 as a mission-oriented research institute specializing in edible fungi. It was the first institute in China to provide comprehensive coverage of all research areas applicable to edible fungi and strong technical training in mushroom production.
IEF enjoys high staffing levels and currently employs 84 researchers and technicians, 46 of whom hold senior sci-tech professional qualification.
Qingdao is a prefecture-level city in the eastern Shandong Province of China. Located on China’s Yellow Sea coast, Qingdao was long an important fortress.
Qingdao is a major seaport and naval base, as well as a commercial and financial center. It is home to electronics multinationals such as Haier and Hisense. The Jiaozhou Bay Bridge, links the main urban area of Qingdao with Huangdao district, straddling the Jiaozhou Bay sea areas.
Its historic German-style architecture and Tsingtao Brewery, the second largest brewery in China, are legacies of the German occupation (1898–1914). Qingdao is classified as a Large-Port Metropolis.
Antiquity Human settlement in the area dates back 6,000 years. The Dongyi lived here and created the Dawenkou, Longshan and Dongyeshi cultures. In the Eastern Zhou dynasty (770–256 BC), the town of Jimo was established, which was then the second-largest one in the Shandong region.
By Bridget Coila – originally posted to Flickr as Qingdao Pier
Peanuts were introduced to China sometime in the 16th or 17th century, during the Ming Dynasty, thanks to the global trade routes opened up by European explorers. Most likely, they arrived via Portuguese or Spanish traders, who had picked them up from South America, where peanuts are native.
Once they reached China, peanuts caught on fast. By the Qing Dynasty, they were being widely cultivated and used in everything from oils to snacks. The Chinese name for peanut, 花生 (huāshēng), literally means “flower born,” a poetic nod to how the plant’s flowers dive underground to produce the pods.
Elder G
Elder G’s Analysis
We fed Elder G all the relevant information regarding the mystery pods, and s/he provided the following suggestions:
The WLBOTT Edible Fungal Research Team
We have hired the famed mycelial sisters, Fiona and Fern Fungalette.
Raised by mossy nuns in a hollow log, they can identify 400 mushrooms by smell alone.
Fiona and Fern, before their TED talk, after a full-body immersion in
