Agaricales

Among the opioid receptors, the κ-opioid receptor (κOR) has been gaining considerable attention as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of complex CNS disorders including depression, visceral pain, and cocaine addiction. With an interest in discovering novel ligands targeting κOR, we searched natural products for unusual scaffolds and identified collybolide (Colly), a nonnitrogenous sesquiterpene from the mushroom Collybia maculata. This compound has a furyl-δ-lactone core similar to that of Salvinorin A (Sal A), another natural product from the plant Salvia divinorum. Characterization of the molecular pharmacological properties reveals that Colly, like Sal A, is a highly potent and selective κOR agonist. However, the two compounds differ in certain signaling and behavioral properties. Colly exhibits 10- to 50-fold higher potency in activating the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway compared with Sal A. Taken with the fact that the two compounds are equipotent for i...

Mushrooms have been used as components of human diet and many ancient documents written in oriental countries have already described the medicinal properties of fungal species. Some mushrooms are known because of their nutritional and therapeutical properties and all over the world some species are known because of their toxicity that causes fatal accidents every year mainly due to misidentification. Many different substances belonging to poisonous mushrooms were already identified and are related with different symptoms and signs. Carcinogenicity, alterations in respiratory and cardiac rates, renal failure, rhabidomyolisis and other effects were observed in toxicity studies with various species including edible and therapeutic ones. Proper identification is important to avoid accidents and toxicity studies are necessary to assure the safe use of mushrooms as food and for medicinal purposes.

The aim of present study was determination effects of dietary administration of C. militaris spent mushroom substrate (SMS) on mucosal and serum immune parameters, disease resistance, and growth performance of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). Two hundred twenty five fish of similar weight (37.28 ± 0.10 g) were assigned to the following diets [0 (T1- Control), 5 (T2), 10 (T3), 20 (T4) and 40 g kg(-1) (T5) SMS]. After 60 days of feeding trial, growth performance, skin mucus lysozyme and peroxidase activities as well as serum innate immune were measured. In addition, survival rate and innate immune responses were calculated after challenge test (15 days) against Streptococcus agalactiae. The results revealed that regardless of inclusion levels, feeding Nile tilapia with SMS supplemented diets significantly increased skin mucus lysozyme and peroxidase activities as well as serum immune parameters (SL, ACH50, PI, RB, and RB) compared control group (P < 0.05). The highest incremen...

A water-soluble polysaccharide of an edible mushroom Calocybe indica var. APK2 showed immunoenhancing (macrophage, splenocyte, thymocyte, and bone marrow activation) and cytotoxic activity toward HeLa cell lines and found to consist of d-glucose, d-galactose, and l-fucose in a molar ratio of nearly 3:1:1. On the basis of acid hydrolysis, methylation analysis, and NMR studies (1H, 13C, DEPT-135, TOCSY, DQF–COSY, NOESY,

The fatty acids of six wild edible mushroom species (Boletus reticulatus,Flammulina velutipesvar.velutipes,Lactarius salmonicolor,Pleurotus ostreatus,Polyporus squamosus,andRussula anthracina) collected from different regions from Anatolia were determined. The fatty acids were identified and quantified by gas chromatography and studied using fruit bodies. Fatty acid composition varied among species. The dominant fatty acid in fruit bodies of all mushrooms wascis-linoleic acid (18 : 2). Percentage ofcis-linoleic acid in species varied from 22.39% to 65.29%. The other major fatty acids were, respectively,cis-oleic, palmitic, and stearic acids. Fatty acids analysis of the mushrooms showed that the unsaturated fatty acids were at higher concentrations than saturated fatty acids.

The antioxidant activity of organic extracts of eight fungal species, Ganoderma lucidum, Ganoderma applanatum, Meripilus giganteus, Laetiporus sulphureus, Flammulina velutipes, Coriolus versicolor, Pleurotus ostreatus and Panus tigrinus, was evaluated for free radical (DPPH· and OH·) scavenging capacity and an effect on lipid peroxidation, and the antibacterial activity was tested by the agar well diffusion method. The highest DPPH· scavenging activity was found in the methanol extract of G. applanatum (12.5 μg/mL, 82.80%) and the chloroform extract of G. lucidum (510.2 μg/mL, 69.12%). The same extracts also showed the highest LP inhibition (91.83%, 85.09%) at 500 μg/mL, while the methanol extracts of G. applanatum and L. sulphureus showed the highest scavenging effect on OH· radicals (68.47%, 57.06%, respectively) at 400 μg/mL. A strong antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria was also manifested. The antioxidative potencies correlated generally with the total phenol c...

We test our "one-log-one-genet" sampling method for the Hawaiian mushroom Rhodocollybia laulaha that posits all R. laulaha mushrooms collected from a single log represent a single genet. We also examine the potential expansion of single genets beyond the confines of one log and the temporal persistence of genets in nature. Finally, we estimate error rates in AFLP scoring. To our knowledge, this is one of few examinations of naturally occurring fungal genets in the tropics and a novel report of AFLP error rates in fungi. Forty-six mushrooms from seven logs were genotyped with the IGS1 locus, two microsatellite loci and 184 AFLP loci from three primer pair combinations. One hundred fifty-three mushroom collections representing the geographic range of R. laulaha were genotyped with the IGS1 and microsatellite loci. The probabilities of two genets sharing identical multilocus genotypes by chance (without actually being the same genet) were calculated for each genotype recovere...

Plants and mushrooms are used for medicinal purposes and the screening of molecules possessing biological activities. A single plant or mushroom may produce both stimulatory and inhibitory effects on immune cells, depending on experimental conditions, but the reason behind this dichotomy remains obscure. We present here a large body of experimental data showing that water extracts of plants and mushrooms usually activate immune cells, whereas ethanol extracts inhibit immune cells. The mode of extraction of plants and mushrooms may thus determine the effects produced on immune cells, possibly due to differential solubility and potency of stimulatory and inhibitory compounds. We also examine the possibility of using such plant and mushroom extracts to treat immune system disorders.

Attine ants evolved farming 55-60 My before humans. Although evolutionarily derived leafcutter ants achieved industrial-scale farming, extant species from basal attine genera continue to farm loosely domesticated fungal cultivars capable of pursuing independent reproductive interests. We used feeding experiments with the basal attine Mycocepurus smithii to test whether reproductive allocation conflicts between farmers and cultivars constrain crop yield, possibly explaining why their mutualism has remained limited in scale and productivity. Stoichiometric and geometric framework approaches showed that carbohydrate-rich substrates maximize growth of both edible hyphae and inedible mushrooms, but that modest protein provisioning can suppress mushroom formation. Worker foraging was consistent with maximizing long-term cultivar performance: ant farmers could neither increase carbohydrate provisioning without cultivars allocating the excess toward mushroom production, nor increase protein...

We report a quantum mechanical (QM) and classical molecular dynamics (MD) study of the conformational and complexation properties of norbadione-A (NBA), a key pigment involved in the Cs+ complexation by mushrooms. The Z versus E isomers of its pulvinic moieties are compared in their neutral (Pulv0), mono- (Pulv(-1)) and di-deprotonated (Pulv(-2)) states, and the 1H chemical shifts are calculated ab initio. Pulv(-1) is found to be stabilized in the E form by an internal COOH(-)O(enolate) hydrogen-bond. No energy minimum is found for the corresponding COO(-)HO(enol) state, indicating that the conjugated enol function of Pulv0 is more acidic than the COOH function. Further deprotonation leads to the Z and E forms of Pulv(-2) that are close in energy and both account for a marked downfield shift delta of ortho-H8 protons. A similar shift is found upon deprotonation of the enol function of an ester analogue of Pulv0. Therefore, contrary to previous assumptions (ref. 7: P. Kuad, et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2005, 127, 1323), the large shift of delta(H8) around pH 9.5 upon deprotonation of NBA or of pulvinic acid cannot be taken as an indicator of an E-to-Z conformational switch, but merely reflects the pH-induced conformational change of the carboxylate group adjacent to the (H8)-ring. The QM and MD studies on NBA(2-) and NBA(4-) support the view that both species prefer the E/E form with two intramolecular COOH(-)O(enolate) hydrogen-bonds in the gas phase and in solution. Finally, we simulated mono- and di-nuclear complexes of Cs+ with NBA(2-) and NBA(4-) by MD, showing that only the NBA(4-) state populated at high pH values can bind two Cs+ cations, with both E and Z conformations of the pulvinic arms.