It forms a large, orange mushroom. The caps grow up to 15 centimetres (6in) wide. The gills are decurrent and the stem is up to 15cm long. The flesh is orange and the spore print is white to cream.[1]
Its gills often exhibit a weak green bioluminescence when fresh. This green glow has been mentioned in several journal articles, which state that the phenomenon can persist up to 40–50 hours after the mushroom has been picked.[2][3] It is believed that this display serves to attract insects to the mushroom's gills at night, which can then distribute its spores across a wider area.[4]
Omphalotus illudens is sometimes confused with edible chanterelles, but can be distinguished by its thicker, fleshier appearance, tendency to form large clusters, and clearly separated caps when young. Unlike chanterelles, O.illudens is poisonous to humans when eaten, whether raw or cooked. Although some older literature claims the name is synonymous with O.olearius, phylogenetic analysis confirms the two as distinct species.[5]
Habitat and distribution
Omphalotus illudens is often found in clumps on decaying stumps, buried roots, or at the base of hardwood trees in eastern North America (June–November).[1]
Toxicity
The poisonous chemical compounds illudinS and illudinM were isolated from O.illudens.[6][7] In addition to their antibacterial and antifungal effects, illudins appear to be the cause of human toxicity when these mushrooms are eaten raw or cooked, causing vomiting, cramps, and diarrhea. Muscarine has also been indirectly implicated in toxicity,[8] but modern studies to demonstrate its presence in O.illudens are needed.
The cytotoxic effect of illudin is of interest for treating some cancers, but illudin itself is too poisonous to use directly so it must first be chemically modified. Inside human cells, illudinS reacts with DNA and creates a type of DNA damage that blocks transcription. This block can only be relieved by a repair system called nucleotide excision repair. Damage in non-transcribed DNA areas is left unrepaired by the cell. This property was exploited by the company MGI Pharma to develop an illudin-derivative called Irofulven for use as a cancer treatment. Its application is still in the experimental phase.[9]
↑ McMorris, T. C.; Kelner, M. J.; Wang, W.; Estes, L. A.; Montoya, M. A.; Taetle, R. (1992). "Structure-Activity Relationship of Illudins: Analogs with Improved Therapeutic Index". Journal of Organic Chemistry. 57 (25): 6876–6883. doi:10.1021/jo00051a037.
↑ Clark, Ernest D.; Smith, Clayton S. (1913). "Toxicological Studies on the Mushrooms Clitocybe illudens and Inocybe infida". Mycologia. 5 (4): 224–232. doi:10.2307/3753387. JSTOR3753387.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
