Erabaru.net. Amanita phalloides, commonly known as the ‘death cap’ mushroom, has always fascinated scientists both for its lethal amatoxins and for the way it manages to conquer new lands in a short time.
Death cap is native to Europe where it grows by digging into the roots of European Oak trees and forming a symbiotic relationship with them, but has somehow managed to colonize every continent except Antarctica.
This impressive feat has puzzled scientists for years, because of how fast the process is.
Most likely introduced in California sometime in the 19th century, by hitching a ride with potting soil seedlings from Europe, the poisonous mushroom quickly spread throughout the US states, from the Bay Area farther up the coast, eventually becoming more abundant than in its native Europe.
After decades of research, scientists now know how rapid conquest occurs.
According to a new study published last January 31 to the biorXiv preprint server, death cap samples collected from across California were perfect copies of each other, clones produced asexually, with no need to mate to spread their spores in new, unconquered territory.
This reproductive ability surprised the researchers, as DNA samples from the European death cap clearly showed that he reproduced sexually. The same goes for mushrooms collected from New Jersey and New York.
DNA sequencing showed that the California death cap mushroom carried the exact same genetic material and ability to reproduce asexually for about 30 years.
Scientists theorize that Amanita phalloides is capable of activating asexual reproduction to help it spread quickly to new territories, and then switch back to sexual reproduction once colonization is complete.
More research is needed to learn how and when asexual reproduction is activated, and whether this is a capability specific to death caps, or other invasive fungal strategies as well.
The death cap holds the Guinness Record for “the most poisonous mushroom in the world” and is responsible for the most fatal mushroom poisoning worldwide.
Featuring a green-colored cap, white stem, and white gills, this fragile-looking mushroom resembles several of the edible species commonly consumed by humans and is said to have a somewhat unpleasant taste as well, which only makes it more dangerous.
Six to seventy two hours after consumption, symptoms begin to appear. The amatoxins in the death cap mushroom enter the liver through the intestinal tract and then bind to the protein-producing enzymes, preventing them from doing their job. Without protein production, the liver begins to shut down, causing nausea and diarrhea, which is often followed by other organ failure, coma, and death.
The amatoxin produced by Amanita phalloides is thermostable, which means it is resistant to changes due to heat, so that the toxic effect is not reduced by cooking. It is estimated that half of the death cap mushrooms are enough to kill an adult human.
There is currently no known cure for death cap mushroom poisoning. Fluids can help relieve symptoms, and some special treatments have been shown to improve survival, but poisoning is often fatal.
Source: odditycentral
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