68 Quadrillion ...

Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN)

Pandora has nothing on earth in terms of terrestrial connectivity as it seems, fungi is the connective tissue for all earth, capable of reaching star systems as described by a recent study published in Science .

Scientists have mapped the Earth’s entire underground fungal network, showing that it’s so extensive that if it were stretched into a straight line, it would reach other star systems — and span a sizable chunk of the Milky Way galaxy, for that matter.

The groundbreaking work, published in a study in the journal Science, focused on microorganisms known as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Forming the hidden backbone of our planet’s soil, they circulate water and nutrients and regulate the climate by locking away vast stores of carbon. 

Altogether, the global fungal network weighs around 300 megatons, the study found, which is four to six times more than the biomass of all human beings. Around 40 percent of that fungal mass resides in high-altitude or flooded grasslands, like the Everglades in Florida. 

The authors hope that their work will highlight the indispensable but overlooked role that these fungal networks play in the Earth’s ecosystems, with around 70 percent of all ground-based plant life depending on the fungi.  

Fluorescently labelled carbon droplets, yellow, flowing inside hyphal network of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in real-time. Laid end to end, the filaments of these fungi would extend for 68 quadrillion miles. Credit...Achille Joliot/AMOLF Institute, Shimizu Lab

A hidden circulatory system pulses just beneath the planet’s surface. There, embedded in the soil, are dense networks of microorganisms known as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. These fungi attach themselves to the roots of plants, sending long, thin filaments out through the soil. These ferry water and nutrients to plants and whisk away carbon, helping to keep vast quantities of it out of the atmosphere.

Laid end to end, these filaments would extend for 68 quadrillion miles — roughly 730 million times the distance between Earth and the sun, scientists reported in a new paper. Collectively, the filaments contain approximately 300 megatons of carbon, or four to six times as much as the carbon contained by all the human beings on the planet, according to the study, which was published in Science on Thursday.

An international team of scientists conducted the research, using a combination of advanced techniques, including machine learning and a high-resolution imaging robot, to measure, predict and map the size of these fungal networks in ecosystems across the globe.

The study revealed particularly dense fungal networks beneath the world’s grasslands, adding to the evidence that these ecosystems, which tend to receive less conservation protection than forests, serve as significant carbon sinks for the planet.

The researchers also photographed lab-grown fungal samples with a high-tech imaging robot to make high-resolution images of the hyphae, allowing the scientists to determine their width.
Credit...Loreto Oyarte Gálvez/VU Amsterdam/AMOLF/SPUN

One thing not discussed is the fact Microtubules reside in all the fungi,
something to think about is it not?

Microtubules are part of the cytoskeleton, a structural network within the cell's cytoplasm. The roles of the microtubule cytoskeleton include mechanical support, organization of the cytoplasm, transport, motility and chromosome segregation. In developing neurons microtubules are known as neurotubules,[23] and they can modulate the dynamics of actin, another component of the cytoskeleton.[24] A microtubule is capable of growing and shrinking in order to generate force, and there are motor proteins such as kinesins and dynein that allow organelles and other cellular components (such as mRNA) to be carried along a microtubule, using specific adaptor proteins.[25][26]
This combination of roles makes microtubules important for organizing and moving intracellular constituents/cargo.

 It from Bit applies.