Mycena mushroom drawing.

Nothing important today, just a drawing I did of some mushrooms from the Mycena genus.

The Carbonifungerous Period

This story is already on most of the science news sites I read so I thought about leaving it to them, but how could I deny you the pleasure of reading my words. If; however, you prefer reading a professional science organization cover it, here is the article from the National Science Foundation, who helped fund the study.

Study on Fungi Evolution Answers Questions About Ancient Coal Formation and May Help Advance Future Biofuels Production

We burn a lot of coal. Historically around half of all the electricity here in the good ol' US of A has been produced with coal power. That coal was deposited/produced during the carboniferous period. Get it CARBONiferous, so like, lots of coal.
 
Anyhow, a new study publish in the June 29 edition of Science is suggesting that maybe a big contributor to the end of coal deposits is the evolution of rot fungi. But Science isn't free so you only get a link to the entry summary.

Endless Rots Most Beautiful

The study is part of an ongoing endeavor to help categorize and decipher the early evolution of fungi. It is believed that one and a half million species of fungi exist on earth, but only about 5 percent of those have been categorized. To help identify the diversity of fungi and uncover a fuller picture of their roles in the overall ecosystem of our planet, studies like this are becoming more prominent.

The team of 71 scientists designed their specific study to " reconstruct the evolution of lignin decay mechanisms in fungi, analyze the distribution of enzymes that enable fungi to break down lignin, and better define the evolution of the gene families that encode those enzymes," lead scientist David Hibbett.

White rot fungus decay on wood

To do this, the team compared the genome of 31 fungi, focusing on the Agaricomycetes. In the process twelve new genomes were sequenced for the first time, specifically for this study. In addition they traced the mutation rates on the genes responsible for lignin decomposing enzymes in order to trace the evolution of the ability.

The team's study determined that the earliest multiple lignin-degrading enzyme producing Agaricomycetes lived roughly 300 million years ago. This is right around the end of the Carboniferous period, which suggests a possible connection between the ability of fungi do break down wood, and the decrease in deposits of non-decomposed woody debris into the ground. With trees getting decomposed instead being buried, the large deposits that eventually became coal ceased. And thus an entire geological time period was brought to a halt by the evolution of  a group of fungi.

Aside from the pure scientific discovery entailed, the scientists involved with this study hopes that by  sequencing these genomes, we may uncover new tools of industrial biology. "The 12 new genome sequences could serve as potential resources for industrial microbiologists aiming to develop new tools for producing biofuels, bioremediation or other products, perhaps by using recombinant DNA methods or by selecting new organisms for fermentation," again, lead scientist David Hibbett.

So if you think about it, this group of fungi may be responsible for causing fossil fuels to be in limited supply and simultaneously be a key to creating renewable biofuels.


Photo Credit: Robert Blanchette

Fungal Word Friday

Basidium

Spore-bearing Basidium

A small club-shaped structure that bears four spores (typically) at the end, it a distinguishing characteristic of basidiomycete fungi.

Mycorrhizal Metal Mosh Pit

Wow, two mycorrhizal posts in a row. You would think that maybe the symbiotic relationship that is necessary for most plants to live might be important.

Populus alba branch

It should come as no surprise that in many places around the world, soils are becoming polluted. With 6 out of the 10 most highly polluted locations containing large amounts of heavy metal contamination, finding ways to deal with that particular problem are of great interest. Unfortunately, since we can't degrade heavy metals, we need to find ways to remove them from the soil.

This is where plants come in. An increasing amount of  focus has been put into a reclamation process called phytoremediation. Simply put, this is the uptake and accumulation of heavy metals into plants, which can then be removed, making for less contaminated soils. This process is more cost effective and more popular with people than machine centric traditional methods.

Typically plants used for this are small shrubs and as such are only capable of extracting an equally small amount of heavy metals, which means it takes a lot of time and replacement plants to get the job done. Recently studies have been done with larger shrubs and trees in hopes of creating a larger sink for the metals. One of the most popular trees for this is  the poplar tree.... Popular Poplar. Because of this tree's relatively quick growth and tolerance to heavy metals it is a key species for study. But, how can we make it better? How about a little arbuscular micorrhizal fungi? Namely, Glomus intraradices.

A team of Italian Scientist has just published a study, which is turn part of a larger study looking to improve phytoremediation, looking at the effects that this fungus had on leaf protein expression in the presence of heavy metals.

Effects of Heavy Metals and Arbuscular Mycorrhiza on Leaf Proteome of a Selected Poplar Clone: A Time Course Analysis

Using a clone that was previously selected because it demonstrated a natural tolerance for copper and zinc, the scientists set out to determine how much of a difference was demonstrated by presence of the fungi. The team grew their clones in a glasshouse with polluted and non-polluted soils and with or without G. intaradices inoculation. At several different intervals (4, 6, and 16 months) they took leaf samples and tested for leaf protein expression.

Their results showed that while in the short term fungal colonization caused a decrease in protein expression that outdid even that of growing the plant on polluted soils, after the initial growing season things evened out, and by the end of the 16 month period the Mycorrhizal fungi helped the poplar grow to the same extent as the tree in healthy soil. The one caveat is, even with the Fungus, leaf bio mass did not reach non-polluted soil levels.

A key lesson (besides the influence of mycorrhizal fungi on leaf protein expression) that this study demonstrates is the importance of long term and repeated sampling. If the study had only included the 4 month point sample it would appear as though the fungus had just as much of a negative effect as the poor soil, while subsequent samples illustrated quite a different and more complex tale. This observation is noted by the scientist in the study, I just wanted to add my voice.

When we do any kind of science it is always vital that we don't account a single point of data as evidence for or against a hypothesis, but that we vigorously seek to exhaust the possible variables that could change our outcomes.



Study: Guido Lingua, Elisa Bona, Valeria Todeschini, Chiara Cattaneo, Francesco Marsano, Graziella Berta, and Maria Cavaletto
Photo: Wikimedia user MPF

Mycorrhiza Symbiosis: It's not just for Ascomycetes anymore.

A mycorrhiza is the symbiotic bond between fungi and the roots of vascular plants. This important mutualistic relationship is found in over 90% of plant families. Without it they would be unable to absorb vital nutrients from the soil and their fungal partners would be left without  constant access to those tasty carbs that make life worth living.

Sheathed ericoid mycorriza on Vaccinum myrtillus

So basically: the plant absorbs light, photosynthesizes it, passes some sugars on to the fungus coating its root system; and in turn the fungus absorbs nutrients and minerals from the soil that the plant is unable to uptake on its own and exchanges them. Barter system!!

Anyway, as mentioned, while the vast majority of plants depend on this relationship only a very small portion of fungi are known to join in this inter-kingdom partnership, most notably those in the ascomycetes order Helotiales. But the world is going all wibbly because some basidiomycetes have taken a liking to blueberries.

A new study conducted by scientists from the Czech Republic and Norway have isolated a basidiomycete that forms a mycorrhizal sheath with the European blueberry(Vaccinium myrtillus) root system.

Novel Root-Fungus Symbiosis in Ericaceae: Sheathed Ericoid Mycorrhiza Formed by a Hitherto Undescribed Basidiomycete with Affinities to Trechisporales

In previous studies there have been tentative relationships between basidiomycetes and plants but until now the levels in studies have not been significant enough to differentiate between  true mycorrhizal cooperation, and saprotrophic or necrotrophic contamination.

Our intrepid heroes however managed to isolate this potentially new species (They are currently referring to it as "Sheathed ericoid mycorrhiza" from natural samples and synthesize it in vitro. In the lab they got it to form sheath clamps onto the root system, verifying that the fungus was indeed able to form symbiosis with the V. myrtillus. This demonstrates the first true evidence that a non-sedacinoid basidiomycete is capable of forming a mycorrhizal relationship with plants.

Unfortunately the team was unable to verify it into a new species as of yet. They were however able to isolate it into either the Trechisporales or Hymenochaetales orders. Both found in soils samples but until now unproven to be mycorrhizal fungi.

This type of study shows that even well studied areas, such as the mycorrhizal relationships between plants and fungi are continually turning up new and novel ways that adaptations can occur.



Photo and Study credit: Martin Vohník, Jesse J. Sadowsky, Petr Kohout, Zuzana Lhotáková, Rolf Nestby, and Miroslav Kolařík.

Death of Mice and Men

In a small village in the Yunnan province of China in the 1970's over 300 healthy people died.  Then in 2005 scientists attributted another series of Sudden Unexplained Deaths (SUD) to potentially deadly mushrooms in their diet. Over the next few years five more outbreaks of these mass deaths were linked to the specific mushroom Trogia venenata, the weird thing is that at the time this mushroom was not known to be toxic.

Trogia venenata

Now the same group of researchers that observed the correlation of these deaths to T. venenata has tested their effects on mice in controlled laboratory settings.Want to guess what happened?

Death of Rats

That is correct, they all died.

Hypoglycemia and Death in Mice Following Experimental Exposure to an Extract of Trogia venenata Mushrooms

Within 30 minutes of exposure all of the mice exposed to extract of T venenata started showing signs of toxicity. Within 3 hours of feeding 70% of the test mice were dead, the rest followed in the next few hours. Those mice in the control group, (fed extract from L. vinaceoavellanea instead of  T. venenata)  lived throughout the seven day observational period.
The team then went on to measure the toxicity levels and found that mice started dying at around 370mg, this is the equivalent of a human eating 150g (5.2 oz).
So remember, eating the wrong mushroom is not just deadly to rodents...




Death of Rats Artwork: Kit Cox http://www.fantasyartists.org/KitCox

Jewels of the Fifth Kingdom

I feel like a treat, so here is Jewels of the Fifth Kingdom (part one). A series of photos set to music, all done by David Fischer.