Bioluminescent mushrooms

Glow-in-the-dark mushrooms rediscovered 170 years later

It's hard to imagine that such a miracle of nature could be completely lost sight of, but some of the most brilliantly glowing in the dark mushrooms have been rediscovered after more than 170 years of absence.

Bioluminescent mushrooms have become something of a legend in Brazil. They were first discovered in 1840 by an English botanist named George Gardner. He was struck by the strange, luminous object being played by children in Via Vila de Natividad, a settlement in the state of Goias in central Brazil. After that, there were no reports of brightly glowing mushrooms.

The strange mushroom was almost completely forgotten until 2002, when Brazilian chemist Cassius Stevani stumbled upon Gardner's previously recorded reports. Then, in 2005, a scientific discovery happened. Primatologists Patricia Isar of the University of São Paulo in Brazil and Dorothy Fragasi of the University of Georgia in Athens were studying a flock of monkeys far in Brazil when they saw something mysteriously glowing at the root of a palm tree.

Izar and Fragasi collected mushroom specimens and handed them over to Stevani, who later confirmed that the mushrooms they found were in fact Gardner's long-lost plant. It was this find that became the basis for an article in the next issue of the journal "Mycology".

The irony of the situation is added by the fact that immediately after the re-discovery of mushrooms, scientists found out that the local population is very familiar with them. In fact, the mushrooms even had a name - flor-de-coco, or coconut flower, as they are most often found on the rotting side of hamerops palms. As is often the case in such cases, scientists have never wondered why it was there.

Bioluminescence - simply put, the ability of organisms to emit light is a widespread phenomenon. Jellyfish and fireflies are probably the most famous bioluminescent creatures, but creatures from bacteria and fungi to insects and fish produce light through a variety of chemical processes.

Bioluminescent fungi have been known for centuries, from the orange-red talker to the phenomenon known as “phosphorescent light,” where the nutrient-absorbing fibers of the honey fungus give off a faint but eerie glow in rotten trees. Glowing mushrooms have captured the imagination of cultures around the world. Most often, people are afraid of them, calling them "ghost mushrooms."

Although glowing mushrooms are not new to science - 71 species of mushrooms with such properties have been found - this particular species (named Neonothopanus gardneri in honor of the discoverer) is distinguished by its size and extraordinary glow intensity.

“It glows brighter than almost all other luminescent mushrooms,” explains Dennis Desiardin, a mushroom specialist at San Francisco State University. "If you put a mushroom like that on top of a newspaper in a dark room, you can read the words."

Desiardin also noted that these mushrooms grow up to 8 centimeters in diameter, which is simply gigantic in comparison with other bioluminescent mushrooms.

Stevani is currently working to find chemical compounds that give these mushrooms the ability to emit light. This natural system is still a mystery to science. The researchers believe that the mechanism of light production in fungi is the same as in fireflies, using a chemical mixture of luciferin and luciferase. The latter chemical is an enzyme that helps luciferin, oxygen and water interact to produce a new compound that emits light. At the same time, scientists have still not found luciferin and luciferase in mushrooms.

Scientists also don't know for sure what the glow is for. One theory is that mushrooms glow to attract insects, which helps spread spores.Another theory, which also includes the attraction of insects, suggests that light is a signal light for predatory beetles that feed on insects that can damage the fungus.

However, what scientists are absolutely sure of is that such mushrooms are poisonous. And since the properties of mushrooms to glow in the dark are interesting to people, researchers strongly recommend not to eat them.

Variety of glowing species

In the tropics, there are more mushroom "bulbs" and their glow is brighter. Thus, Polyporus noctilucens growing in Angola is noticeable in the dark at a distance of 20 meters, and in its light you can read. The Brazilian glowing mushroom Neonothopanus gardneri, which locals call "flor de coco" ("palm blossom"), is not lagging behind in radiation intensity, and children use it for exciting evening games with bright green mushroom "lanterns".

Glowing mushrooms

In nature, there are mushrooms that glow in the dark with a greenish light. There are about 70 species in total. Some glow around the clock, while others only at night. All these are small mushrooms (the diameter of the cap is from several millimeters to several centimeters), common in the tropics and subtropics. The most famous are of the Micena genus (Mycena) from South and Central America.

The luminescence mechanism has not yet been studied in all luminous mushrooms, but in most cases it is quite simple. It is a chemical reaction involving the pigment luciferin and oxygen. The glow is caused by the oxidation of this pigment. Interestingly, a very similar mechanism causes the glow of fireflies, which also most often glow with a greenish light. As for the biological significance of the glow, it is most likely that this is how fungi attract nocturnal insects that spread their spores.

In the photo is a mushroom Mycena chlorophos,

Probably, such mushrooms need an appropriate microclimate. And in our latitudes, even in boxing, it is not easy to raise them, I think so. I would like to be mistaken!

If such mushrooms grew in pots anywhere in the apartment, then it would be possible to have a soft illumination of the room.

In our strip (Nizhny Novgorod region) mycelium of honey agarics glows. As a teenager, I used to go into the woods at night to find "glowing rot".

From a distance they look like a piece of paper lit by moonlight, the green color of the glow is not noticeable. If you get closer, it becomes noticeable that this is not reflected light, but the rotten stump's own glow. The stump does not glow entirely, but the part that is farther from the surface - cracks and depressions.

If you break the stump with your hands, then you can feel a moist pulp inside, similar to wet cotton wool. During the day, this wood is light, light, you can push through with your fingers, white stains are visible on the surface - this is the mycelium of the fungus, and it glows. The glow is brightest on a fresh rift, but still very dim. If you put the rotten on the palm of your hand, then with eyes accustomed to the dark, the tips of the fingers will be visible. A large rotten light gives about as much as one firefly.

The rotten must be moist; when the mycelium dries, it dies. Arriving at the village house, I dropped some of the rot on the dirt floor of the covered courtyard. The ground is always wet there. The next day, I saw a scattering of white sparks - these were small particles of rot, spread by feet across the yard. From a distance, the glow color is not noticeable. They glowed for several days.

I observed this phenomenon at the end of July, on a warm night. I think if it were cold, the glow would not be noticeable, although I'm not sure about that.

By the way, while searching for rotten, I found a glowing insect. Unlike southern fireflies, the insect stopped glowing when touched. When examined in the light, it turned out that it was something like a wood lice.

Yes, the most important thing.I did not see the fruiting bodies of the honey fungus on the stump, but I read in the big Soviet encyclopedia that it is the honey mushrooms that glow.

Honey mushrooms can be grown - on wooden pigs buried in damp ground. Necessarily in the shade. You can find a recipe on the internet. But in a wooden house, I would not do this

How to explain the glow effect

The exact chemical mechanism of mushroom glow has not yet been established. The assumption is sufficiently substantiated that this process is close to that which occurs in the bodies of fireflies: the enzyme luciferase helps the interaction of luciferin, oxygen and water, as a result of which a quantum of light is released. However, scientists are still not sure exactly which chemical compounds are involved in the reaction.

To test this hypothesis, in a night palm forest inhabited by Neonothopanus gardneri, Brazilian researchers installed a rubber mock mushroom with green LED bulbs. A record number of insects attracted by this dummy was recorded, and among them were wasps, and ants, and beetles, and flies, which are really capable of carrying spores.

In addition, many glowing mushrooms in the tropics have a clear diurnal rhythm - during the day, when insects cannot be attracted against the background of sunlight, the glow weakens noticeably, and at night, in the dark, it flares up.

Mysteriously flickering rotten mushrooms inhabited by honey agaric mycelium, mushroom "lamps" in olive groves of the Mediterranean, bright green tropical "mushroom bulbs" for centuries send their rays into the darkness of the night, and the complex chemistry and secret biology of this phenomenon are still waiting for their discoverers.

Definitioner

rare (rare smell)

V mycology rare odor, eng. "Raphanoid", is interpreted very loosely and often denotes any smell of raw root vegetables, including potato, ie. not necessarily as sharp, sharp, and crisp as black or white radish.

Basidia (Basidia)

Lat. Basidia. A specialized structure of sexual reproduction in fungi, inherent only in Basidiomycetes. Basidia are terminal (end) elements of hyphae of various shapes and sizes, on which spores develop exogenously (outside).

Basidia are diverse in structure and method of attachment to hyphae.

According to the position relative to the axis of the hypha, to which they are attached, three types of basidia are distinguished:

Apical basidia are formed from the terminal cell of the hypha and are located parallel to its axis.

Pleurobasidia are formed from lateral processes and are located perpendicular to the axis of the hyphawhich continues to grow and can form new shoots with basidia.

Subbasidia formed from lateral a process turned perpendicular to the axis of the hypha, which, after the formation of one basidium, stops its growth.

Based on morphology:

Holobasidia - unicellular basidia, not divided by septa (see Fig. A, D.).

Phragmobasidia are divided by transverse or vertical septa, usually into four cells (see Fig. B, C).

By type of development:

Heterobasidia consists of two parts - hypobasidia and epibasidia developing from it, with or without partitions (see Fig. C, B) (see Fig. D).

Homobasidia is not divided into hypo- and epibasidia and in all cases is considered holobasidia (Fig. A).

Basidia is the place of karyogamy, meiosis and the formation of basidiospores. Homobasidia, as a rule, is not functionally divided, and meiosis follows karyogamy in it. However, basidia can be divided into probasidia - the site of karyogamy and metabasidia - the site of meiosis. Probasidium is often a dormant spore, for example in rust fungi. In such cases, probazidia grows with metabasidia, in which meiosis occurs and on which basidiospores are formed (see Fig. E).

See Karyogamy, Meiosis, Gifa.

Pileipellis

Lat. Pileipellis, skin - differentiated surface layer of the cap of agaricoid basidiomycetes. The structure of the skin in most cases differs from the inner flesh of the cap and may have a different structure. The structural features of pileipellis are often used as diagnostic features in descriptions of fungi species.

According to their structure, they are divided into four main types: cutis, trichoderma, hymeniderma and epithelium.

See Agaricoid fungi, Basidiomycete, Cutis, Trichoderma, Gimeniderm, Epithelium.

Hymeniderm

The type of cap skin, consists of non-septic elements located more or less perpendicular to the surface and laid on the same level, resembling the hymenial layer.

Lat. Hymeniderm.

It is subdivided into trichogymenidermis, eugymenidermis, epithelioid hymenidermis.

There is also a transitional structure of the skin from the hymenidermis to the epithelium. (A mixture of rounded cells, characteristic of the epithelium, but located in one layer, and pear-shaped cells, characteristic of hymenidermis, lying at the same level.)

See Gymnial layer, Trichogymenidermis, Eugymenidermis, Epithelioid hymenidermis, Epithelium, Septa.

Definitioner

Paraphysis (Paraphysis)

Multicellular or unicellular non-spore-bearing outgrowths in some algae, fungi and mosses, which protect the genitals or spore-bearing organs from drying out and mechanical damage.

Paraphysis (Paraphysis)

Multicellular or unicellular non-spore-bearing outgrowths in some algae, fungi and mosses, which protect the genitals or spore-bearing organs from drying out and mechanical damage.

Apothecia (Apothecia)

In the type, a completely open ascocarp, often saucer-shaped or goblet-shaped. On the surface of the apothecia there is an ordered hymenial layer, consisting of bags and sterile elements - the paraphysis, under it lies the subhymenal layer, in which the asci develop, and everything else is made up of sterile hyphae of the pulp - the excipule. Apothecia is characterized by the simultaneous maturation of many asci and the active release of spores. Secondary closed apothecia are found in fungi, whose fruiting bodies develop underground, for example, in truffles.

See Ascocarp, Hymenium, Discomycetes, Paraphysis.

Apothecia (Apothecia)

See Ascocarp, Hymenium, Discomycetes, Paraphysis.

Apothecia (Apothecia)

See Ascocarp, Hymenium, Discomycetes, Paraphysis.

Bags (Ask)

A specialized cell of marsupial fungi (ascomycetes), inside which ascospores develop as a result of the sexual process.

The structure of the bursae is an important diagnostic feature used in the ascomycete system. There are prototunicate and eutunicate asci. The first ones have a thin shell, not divided into layers, which spreads out during the maturation of ascospores, and they are released passively. The latter have a denser, layered membrane, equipped with a specialized apical apparatus for opening, and ascospores are actively discarded.

Among eutunicate asci there are uniticate ones, the layers of the shell which grow together and open simultaneously, and bitunicate ones, whose shell consists of two sequentially opening layers. A further subdivision of uniticate bags is based on the structure of the apical apparatus.

See Apical apparatus.

The glowing mushroom phenomenon

There is such a thing as bioluminescence - the glow of living organisms. Glowing mushrooms are representatives of this phenomenon. Some species glow not only in the dark, but also during the day.Science provides various explanations for this phenomenon.

The glowing mushroom phenomenon

General information

Glowing mushrooms were first identified in 1840 in Brazil. Then they disappeared and over time the luminescent fruiting bodies were again found in the same place. The phenomenon is mentioned even in the works of Aristotle and the writer Pliny the Elder.

There are many poisonous organisms among these species. The size of the mushrooms does not exceed 3 cm in diameter. The most common is Mycena (feed and decompose organic matter). Radiation is more often yellowish-green, but also light blue, deep red, etc. They are found in the forests of Japan, South America, Brazil, Belize, Puerto Rico and Jamaica, Southern Europe, etc.

The reasons for the glow

More often the whole fruiting body glows. In our latitudes, there are mushrooms that have light in the mycelium. Scientific research has revealed contradictory reasons for this phenomenon:

Chemical reaction - the pigment luciferin and oxygen are involved in the process. The pigment oxidizes and produces a greenish glow.
Habitat.
The way of reproduction - they attract animals, on whose wool spores fall and are carried by this method through the forest.
A way of warning - the light notifies about the toxicity of the fruit chalk. But a defensive reaction is not always justified, because it may turn out to be edible.

The fruiting body usually glows entirely

The strength of the radiation of different types depends on the following factors:

life cycle duration;
the age of the fruiting body - old mushrooms no longer glow, unlike young ones;
temperatures - the most intense bioluminescence of these fungi is observed at 21˚С;
the amount of oxygen - the less it is, the weaker the glow.

The most common types

Luminous mushrooms have recently been presented in 68 varieties. But every year their number is increasing. The most famous are the following:

Mycena luxaeterna - found near the Atlantic Ocean. They grow on twigs of trees. The diameter is equal to 0.8 cm. The leg is jelly-like. The name translates as "eternal light".
Mycena silvaelucens - Found on the island of Borneo (Malaysia). The size of the cap is 18 mm.
Mycena luxarboricola, or "light on the tree," is a type of glowing mushroom, the first examples of which were found in Brazil. Most common in Parana. Diameter 0.5 cm.
Pleurotus (Agaricus) olearius DC - native to southern Europe. They prefer places under old trees. Fruiting bodies are large, the leg is thick, the cap is yellow-golden. They glow entirely.
Xylaria Hypoxylon L - grows on beech stumps. The glow gives the mycelium. Branched fruits.
Armillaria mellea Vahl - the mycelium of this variety destroys wood. Light and dark filaments of mycelium penetrate the entire trunk. Due to the glow in the dark, it seems as if the radiation comes from a tree.
Gardneri Berk - Found in Brazil. They grow on dead palm leaves.

Glowing mushrooms come in many varieties

Application

Luminous dictyophora has medicinal properties - a rare species that grows in the jungle. According to the recipe of Count Alessandro Cagliostro, an elixir is prepared from it, for which the following ingredients are needed:

4 g dry chopped dictyophora;
200 g of vodka or brandy;

The medicine is insisted for 2 weeks. Is taken orally for 1 tsp. Or 1 tbsp. l. 3 times a day 15 minutes before meals. It can help in the treatment of a wide variety of diseases:

fights cancer cells;
gives the effect of rejuvenation;
helps in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases;
enhances potency.

To date, scientists from Russia, together with Brazilian and Japanese colleagues, have created mushrooms that glow with almost all the colors of the rainbow. Decorative lanterns made from these mushrooms, hanging from tree trunks or placed on the ground, can decorate gardens.

It is worth trying to grow a glowing mushroom with your own hands. To get a good harvest, you need good seedlings.Luminescent fruiting bodies are rare, so sticks with mycelium are bought at special factories or in stores. It must be remembered that in nature, such species grow more often in the humid tropics. The mycelium will begin to bear fruit if the appropriate microclimate is created.

Bioluminescent (glowing) mushrooms: types and causes of glow

The radiation of light by living organisms is a frequent phenomenon, and the mushroom kingdom also has something to illuminate the forest darkness. Glowing mushrooms inhabit not only tropical thickets, but are also found in the middle lane. The mechanisms of this luminescence (bioluminescence) and its biological feasibility are under study.

Variety of glowing species

The world already knows 71 species of luminous mushrooms. Light can come both from the fruiting body of the fungus and from its mycelium. In temperate latitudes, only the mycelium of some species glows - for example, the honey fungus Armillaria mellea. The filaments of mycelium, penetrating the dead wood of stumps and dead wood, emit an even white, slightly greenish light in the dark. Sometimes old fruiting bodies of milk mushrooms and russules can flicker - in the event that small mushrooms of the Collybia genus with a luminous mycelium settle on them.

In broad-leaved beech forests, the mycelium of clavate branched marsupial mushrooms Xylaria emits yellow-green light, and even further south, at the foot of old olives, the bioluminescent mushroom Pleurotus (Agaricus) olearius shines. For him, while he is alive, not only the bottom of the hat glows, but also its top and even the leg.