Bioluminescent mushroomsFirst noted as rather tasty by the Roman all rounder protoscientist, vulcano
Bioluminescent mushroomsFirst noted as rather tasty by the Roman all rounder protoscientist, vulcanologist and encyclopaedist Pliny the Elder (see http://tinyurl.com/k4ze94l), there are over 70 known species of fungus that glow in the dark. Aristotle had already noted the phenomenon known as foxfire, the glow of decaying wood several centuries earlier. There are four main families grouped into a single order. They are found throughout the temperate and tropical regions of our globe, and all emit a steady light of a greenish hue. The source of light is an enzyme reaction (enzymes are proteins that catalyse reactions, and themselves crystalline in nature) involving a chemical called appropriately luciferase (Lucifer translates literally as the spear of light). There is a possible link with growth activity, since the same factors seem to influence luminescence. The single mechanism suggests that it evolved for unknown reasons early in the evolution of fungi, one of the world’s most enigmatic and little understood kingdoms of life.All the mushrooms involved feed off rotting wood, breaking down the lignin that also fills poor quality coals (known as lignites). The reactions are thought to protect the fungus from free radicals released as the wood is gently chewed away but the precise evolutionary value remains unknown. In Dutch Indonesia, locals were noted as using them to illuminate paths in the jungle, presumably by lining their edges with rotting wood, and these shrooms have undoubtedly amazed people for millennia as much as they do me.LozImage credit: Steve Axfordhttp://www.mykoweb.com/articles/BioluminescentFungi.htmlhttp://news.mongabay.com/2013/0613-kimbrough-glowing-fungi.html -- source link
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