The amount and diversity of fungi floating in the air are both much higher than previously thought, according to new German research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). According to the study, we breathe in between 1 and 10 fungal spores every time we inhale.
Most of the fungal spores floating around in the atmosphere are made by mushrooms. Mushrooms are basidiomycetes, a vast group of fungi that get their name from the way they make their spores. Basidiospores grow from basidia – club-shaped cells with four terminal prongs called sterigmata. The spores inflate from the tips of these prongs like balloons. There are four because these cells' nuclei are the four products of meiosis—sexual cell division—within the basidium.
Spore release throughout the fungal kingdom is as diverse as it is bizarre. Many ascomycete fungi discharge all of their spores at once in a single puff! The spores passing through the air creates enough momentum to create its own air current. The bird's nest fungi (Nidulariaceae) depend on raindrops to rapidly compress pillows of spore filled tissue which launches spores past the boundary layer of still air surrounding the fungus. The stinkhorns (Phallaceae) attract carrion beetles and flies by the stench of its spore filled gleba. These insects land on the gleba and unknowingly carry spores to other suitable habitats.
You can search the internet to find how may spores are released from certain fungi per minute. Ganoderma applanatum releases 30 billion spores a day, now that’s amazing!!