What is the difference between bacteria and fungi in the soil?

Soil is teaming with life of all kinds--from the roots of the biggest trees, to the smallest insects and mites, to microscopic creatures too small to see with the naked eye. These tiniest soil inhabitants are called micro-organisms, or just microbes for short. Diverse life forms fall into the microbe category, with the two most abundant in soil being fungi and bacteria.

You're probably familiar with fungi in the form of mushrooms. But in reality, mushrooms are just the tip of the iceberg so to speak. They are the fruiting bodies (spore- producing reproductive structures) of unseen fungal mycelia that weave vast networks of fine threads throughout the soil matrix. While the individual threads of fungus are microscopic, altogether they add up to staggeringly massive sizes--in fact, the largest single organism in the world is a fungal mycelium dubbed Oregon's "Humongous Fungus!" While some fungi can infect plants and cause disease, most of the time soil fungi are doing important work such as breaking down organic matter, strengthening soil structure by holding aggregates together, and partnering with plant roots to boost their nutrient uptake.

The word bacteria might conjure up the idea of germs and disease, but millions and billions of bacteria live on their own in every spoonful of soil without infecting a host organism. Similar to fungi, bacteria break down soil organic matter and release nutrients for uptake by plant roots. Most of these bacteria are single-celled organisms living on the surfaces of tiny soil particles, although some create networks similar to fungi (these are called filamentous bacteria). Click here to read about some specific examples of helpful bacteria living in your soil.