Tremella fuciformis

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Tremella fuciformis
Tremella fuciformis 337510.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Class: Tremellomycetes
Order: Tremellales
Family: Tremellaceae
Genus: Tremella
Species:
T. fuciformis
Binomial name
Tremella fuciformis
Berk. (1856)
Synonyms
  • Nakaiomyces nipponicusKobayasi (1939)
Information icon.svg
Smooth icon.pngSmooth hymenium
No cap icon.svgNo distinct cap
NA cap icon.svg Hymenium attachment is not applicable
NA cap icon.svgLacks a stipe
Transparent spore print icon.svg
 Spore print is white
Parasitic fungus.svgEcology is parasitic
Mycomorphbox Choice.pngEdibility is choice

Tremella fuciformis is a species of fungus; it produces white, frond-like, gelatinous basidiocarps (fruiting bodies). It is widespread, especially in the tropics, where it can be found on the dead branches of broadleaf trees. This fungus is commercially cultivated and is one of the most popular fungi in the cuisine and medicine of China. [1] T. fuciformis is commonly known as snow fungus, snow ear, silver ear fungus, white jelly mushroom, and white cloud ears. [1]

Contents

T. fuciformis is a parasitic yeast, and grows as a slimy, mucus-like film until it encounters its preferred hosts, various species of Annulohypoxylon (or possibly Hypoxylon ) fungi, whereupon it then invades, triggering the aggressive mycelial growth required to form the fruiting bodies. [1] [2]

Description

Fruit bodies are gelatinous, watery white, up to 7.5 centimetres (3 inches) across (larger in cultivated specimens), and composed of thin but erect, seaweed-like, branching fronds, often crisped at the edges. Microscopically, the hyphae are clamped and occur in a dense gelatinous matrix. Haustorial cells arise on the hyphae, producing filaments that attach to and penetrate the hyphae of the host. The basidia are tremelloid (ellipsoid, with oblique to vertical septa), 10–13  μm × 6.5–10 μm, sometimes stalked. The spores are ellipsoid, smooth, 5–8 μm × 4–6 μm, and germinate by hyphal tube or by yeast cells. [3] [4]

Similar species

Ductifera pululahuana is more opaque, as is Sebacina sparassoidea , which grows on the ground. [5]

Taxonomy

Eunibeoseot (Korean: eunibeoseos , "silver ear mushroom") Eunibeoseot (Tremella fuciformis) silver ear mushroom.jpg
Eunibeoseot (Korean : 은이버섯, "silver ear mushroom")

Tremella fuciformis was first described in 1856 by English mycologist Miles Joseph Berkeley, based on collections made in Brazil by botanist and explorer Richard Spruce. [6] In 1939, Japanese mycologist Yosio Kobayasi described Nakaiomyces nipponicus, a similar-looking fungus that differed by having scattered, dark spines on its surface. Later research, however, showed that the fruit bodies were those of Tremella fuciformis parasitized by an ascomycete, Ceratocystis epigloeum , that formed the dark spines. [7] Nakaiomyces nipponicus is therefore a synonym of T. fuciformis.

In Mandarin Chinese, it is called 银耳 (pinyin: yín ěr; literally "silver ear"), 雪耳 (pinyin: xuě ěr; literally "snow ear"); or 白木耳 (pinyin: bái mù ěr, literally "white wood ear"), and in Japanese it is called shiro kikurage (シロキクラゲ, lit. "white tree jellyfish"). In Vietnam, it is called nấm tuyết or ngân nhĩ.

According to Paul Stamets, common names for T. fuciformis include: white jelly mushroom, yin er, white jelly fungus, white jelly leaf ("shirokikurage"), silver ear mushroom, snow mushroom, and chrysanthemum mushroom. [1]

Distribution and habitat

Tremella fuciformis is known to be a parasite of Hypoxylon species. [3] Many of these species were reassigned to a new genus, Annulohypoxylon , in 2005 [2] including its preferred host, Annulohypoxylon archeri , [1] [2] the species routinely used in commercial cultivation. Following its host, fruit bodies are typically found on dead, attached or recently fallen branches of broadleaf trees.

The species is mainly tropical and subtropical, but extends into temperate areas in Asia and North America. It is known throughout South and Central America, [8] the Caribbean, [8] parts of North America, [9] sub-Saharan Africa, [10] southern and eastern Asia, [3] Australia, [11] New Zealand (although this may be an NZ indigenous species), [12] and the Pacific Islands. [13] [14]

Uses

A drink with Tremella fuciformis and bird's nest Nuoc yen ngan nhi.jpg
A drink with Tremella fuciformis and bird's nest

Tremella fuciformis has been cultivated in China since at least the nineteenth century. [15] : 159  Initially, suitable wooden poles were prepared and then treated in various ways in the hope that they would be colonized by the fungus. This haphazard method of cultivation was improved when poles were inoculated with spores or mycelium. Modern production only began, however, with the realization that both the Tremella and its host species needed to be inoculated into the substrate to ensure success. The "dual culture" method, now used commercially, employs a sawdust mix inoculated with both fungal species and kept under optimal conditions. [15] : 327  The most popular species to pair with T. fuciformis is its preferred host, Annulohypoxylon archeri . [1] Estimated production in China in 1997 was 130,000 tonnes. T. fuciformis is also cultivated in other East Asian countries, with some limited cultivation elsewhere. [15] : 327 

In Chinese cuisine, T. fuciformis is traditionally used in sweet dishes. While tasteless, it is valued for its gelatinous texture as well as its supposed medicinal benefits. [15] : 329  Most commonly, it is used to make a dessert soup called luk mei (六味) in Cantonese, often in combination with jujubes, dried longans, and other ingredients. It is also used as a component of a drink and as an ice cream. Since cultivation has made it less expensive, it is now additionally used in some savoury dishes. [15] : 329  In Vietnamese cuisine, it is often used in Chè (Vietnamese pronunciation: [cɛ̂]), a Vietnamese term that refers to any traditional Vietnamese sweet beverage, dessert soup or pudding.

Cosmetics

T. fuciformis extract is used in women's beauty products from China, Korea, and Japan. The fungus reportedly increases moisture retention in the skin and prevents senile degradation of micro-blood vessels in the skin, reducing wrinkles and smoothing fine lines. Other anti-aging effects come from increasing the presence of superoxide dismutase in the brain and liver; it is an enzyme that acts as a potent antioxidant throughout the body, particularly in the skin. It can also help with anti-inflammatory purposes and antioxidant effects, the medical benefits that come from this organism are so vast that they range from boosting immune health to lowering heart disease. [16] T. fuciformis is also known in Chinese medicine for nourishing the lungs. [17]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jelly fungus</span> Group of fungi

Jelly fungi are a paraphyletic group of several heterobasidiomycete fungal orders from different classes of the subphylum Agaricomycotina: Tremellales, Dacrymycetales, Auriculariales and Sebacinales. These fungi are so named because their foliose, irregularly branched fruiting body is, or appears to be, the consistency of jelly. Actually, many are somewhat rubbery and gelatinous. When dried, jelly fungi become hard and shriveled; when exposed to water, they return to their original form.

Fungiculture is the cultivation of fungi such as mushrooms. Cultivating fungi can yield foods, medicine, construction materials and other products. A mushroom farm is involved in the business of growing fungi.

<i>Tremella mesenterica</i> Species of jelly fungus

Tremella mesenterica is a common jelly fungus in the family Tremellaceae of the Agaricomycotina. The gelatinous, orange-yellow fruit body of the fungus, which can grow up to 7.5 cm (3 in) diameter, has a convoluted or lobed surface that is greasy or slimy when damp.

<i>Hypoxylon</i> Genus of fungi

Hypoxylon is a genus of ascomycetes commonly found on dead wood, and usually one of the earliest species to colonise dead wood. A common European species is Hypoxylon fragiforme which is particular common on dead trunks of beech.

<i>Auricularia</i> Genus of fungi

Auricularia is a genus of fungi in the family Auriculariaceae. Basidiocarps are typically gelatinous and ear-shaped, with a slightly downy to conspicuously hirsute upper surface and an under surface that is smooth, wrinkled or veined. All species grow on wood. Several Auricularia species are edible and commercially cultivated on a large scale in China and East Asia.

<i>Tremella</i> Genus of fungi

Tremella is a genus of fungi in the family Tremellaceae. All Tremella species are parasites of other fungi and most produce anamorphic yeast states. Basidiocarps, when produced, are gelatinous and are colloquially classed among the "jelly fungi". Over 100 species of Tremella are currently recognized worldwide. One species, Tremella fuciformis, is commercially cultivated for food.

<i>Annulohypoxylon</i> Genus of fungi

Annulohypoxylon, sometimes called cramp balls, is a genus of fungi in the family Xylariaceae. The 27 species in the genus have a collectively widespread distribution.

<i>Guepinia</i> Genus of fungi

Guepinia is a genus of fungus in the Auriculariales order. It is a monotypic genus, containing the single species Guepinia helvelloides, commonly known as the apricot jelly. The fungus produces salmon-pink, ear-shaped, gelatinous fruit bodies that grow solitarily or in small tufted groups on soil, usually associated with buried rotting wood. The fruit bodies are up to 10 cm (4 in) tall and up to 17 cm wide; the stalks are not well-differentiated from the cap. It has a white spore deposit, and the oblong to ellipsoid spores measure 9–11 by 5–6 micrometers.

<i>Exidia thuretiana</i> Species of fungus

Exidia thuretiana is a jelly fungus in the family Auriculariaceae. The fruit bodies are white and gelatinous with brain-like folds. It is a common, wood-rotting species in Europe, typically growing on dead attached or fallen branches of broadleaf trees, especially beech.

Annulohypoxylon archeri is a saprophytic fungus species. It was moved from the genus Hypoxylon into the genus Annulohypoxylon erected in 2005 by Hsieh, Ju and Rogers.

<i>Auricularia auricula-judae</i> Species of fungus

Auricularia auricula-judae, commonly known as wood ear, jelly ear, or more historically, Jew's ear, is a species of fungus in the order Auriculariales. Basidiocarps are brown, gelatinous, and have a noticeably ear-like shape. They grow on wood, especially elder. The specific epithet is derived from the belief that Judas Iscariot hanged himself from an elder tree.

<i>Phaeotremella</i> Genus of fungi

Phaeotremella is a genus of fungi in the family Phaeotremellaceae. All Phaeotremella species are parasites of other fungi and produce anamorphic yeast states. Basidiocarps, when produced, are gelatinous and are colloquially classed among the "jelly fungi". Fifteen or so species of Phaeotremella are currently recognized worldwide. Tremella sanguinea, shown to be a Phaeotremella species by DNA sequencing, is cultivated in China as an ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine.

<i>Naematelia</i> Genus of fungi

Naematelia is a genus of fungi in the family Naemateliaceae. All Naematelia species are parasites of other fungi and produce anamorphic yeast states. When produced, Basidiocarps ,, are gelatinous and are colloquially classed among the "jelly fungi."Four species of Naematelia are currently recognized worldwide. One species, Naematelia aurantialba, is commercially cultivated for food.

<i>Naematelia aurantia</i> Species of yellow, parasitic fungus

Naematelia aurantia is a species of fungus producing yellow, frondose, gelatinous basidiocarps. It is widespread in north temperate regions and is parasitic on another species of fungus that grows on dead attached and recently fallen branches of broadleaf trees. It is commonly called golden ear in North America.

Naematelia aurantialba is a species of fungus producing yellow, frondose, gelatinous basidiocarps parasitic on fruit bodies of another fungus, Stereum hirsutum, on broadleaf trees. In China, where it is called jīn'ěr, it is cultivated for both food and medical purposes.

<i>Sebacina sparassoidea</i> Species of fungus

Sebacina sparassoidea, the white coral jelly fungus, is a species of fungus in the family Sebacinaceae. Its coral-like basidiocarps are typically a yellowish off-white and have a gelatinous and elastic texture. Found in eastern North America, in humid environments amongst rotting logs of deciduous trees, particularly oaks, it is often observed growing throughout the months of August to September.

<i>Phaeotremella mycophaga</i> Species of fungus

Phaeotremella mycophaga is a species of fungus in the family Phaeotremellaceae. It produces small, pustular, gelatinous basidiocarps on the hymenium of the corticioid fungi Aleurodiscus amorphus and A. grantii on conifers.

Tremella dysenterica is a species of fungus in the family Tremellaceae. It produces bright yellow, red-spotted, lobed to subfrondose, gelatinous basidiocarps and is parasitic on other fungi on dead branches of broad-leaved trees. It was originally described from Brazil and has been recorded elsewhere in the neotropics and in Africa.

Tremella fibulifera is a species of fungus in the family Tremellaceae. It produces soft, whitish, lobed to frondose, gelatinous basidiocarps and is parasitic on other fungi on dead branches of broad-leaved trees. It was originally described from Brazil.

Tremella olens is a species of fungus in the family Tremellaceae. It produces soft, whitish, lobed to frondose, gelatinous basidiocarps and is parasitic on other fungi on dead branches of broad-leaved trees. It was originally described from Tasmania.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Stamets, Paul (2000). "Chapter 21: Growth Parameters for Gourmet and Medicinal Mushroom Species". Growing gourmet and medicinal mushrooms = [Shokuyo oyobi yakuyo kinoko no sabai] (3rd ed.). Berkeley, California, USA: Ten Speed Press. pp. 402–406. ISBN   978-1-58008-175-7.
  2. 1 2 3 Hsieh, Huei-Mei; Ju, Yu-Ming; Rogers, Jack D. (July–August 2005). Natvig, Don (ed.). "Molecular phylogeny of Hypoxylon and closely related genera". Mycologia . 97 (4). Lawrence, Kansas, USA: The Mycological Society of America: 844–865. doi:10.3852/mycologia.97.4.844. ISSN   1557-2536. PMID   16457354. Print ISSN: 0027-5514.
  3. 1 2 3 Chen C-J. (1998). Morphological and molecular studies in the genus Tremella. Berlin: J. Cramer. p. 225. ISBN   3-443-59076-4.
  4. ↑ Roberts P, de Meijer AAR. (1997). "Macromycetes from the state of Paraná, Brazil. 6. Sirobasidiaceae & Tremellaceae". Mycotaxon. 64: 261–283.
  5. ↑ Audubon (2023). Mushrooms of North America. Knopf. p. 86. ISBN   978-0-593-31998-7.
  6. ↑ Berkeley MJ. (1856). "Decades of Fungi LXI-LXII: Rio Negro fungi". Hooker's Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany. 8: 272–280.
  7. ↑ Guerrero RT. (1971). "On the real nature of the "setae" in Tremella fuciformis". Mycologia. 63 (4): 920–924. doi:10.2307/3758062. JSTOR   3758062.
  8. 1 2 Lowy B. (1971). Flora Neotropica 6: Tremellales. New York: Hafner. ISBN   0-89327-220-5.
  9. ↑ "Tremella fuciformis (MushroomExpert.Com)". Archived from the original on 2010-12-18. Retrieved 2010-06-10.
  10. ↑ Roberts P. (2001). "Heterobasidiomycetes from Korup National Park, Cameroon". Kew Bulletin. 56 (1): 163–187. Bibcode:2001KewBu..56..163R. doi:10.2307/4119434. JSTOR   4119434.
  11. ↑ Australian Fungi Checklist "ICAF - Tremella fuciformis". Archived from the original on 2011-03-18. Retrieved 2010-06-10.
  12. ↑ "Tremella fuciformis Berk. 1856 - Biota of NZ". New Zealand Fungi Names Databases (NZFUNGI). Landcare Research. Archived from the original on 24 February 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  13. ↑ Olive LS. (1958). "The lower Basidiomycetes of Tahiti (continued)". Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 85 (2): 89–110. doi:10.2307/2483023. JSTOR   2483023.
  14. ↑ Hemmes DE, Desjardin DE. (2002). Mushrooms of Hawai'i: an identification guide. Ten Speed Press. ISBN   1-58008-339-0.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 Chang, Shu-Ting; Miles, Philip G. (2004). "Tremella - Increased Production by a Mixed Culture Technique". Mushrooms: Cultivation, Nutritional Value, Medicinal Effect, and Environmental Impact (2nd ed.). Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press. ISBN   0-8493-1043-1.
  16. ↑ Ma, Xia; Yang, Meng; He, Yan; Zhai, Chuntao; Li, Chengliang (2021). "A review on the production, structure, bioactivities and applications of Tremella polysaccharides". International Journal of Immunopathology and Pharmacology. 35. SAGE Publications: 205873842110005. doi: 10.1177/20587384211000541 . ISSN   2058-7384. PMC   8172338 . PMID   33858263. S2CID   233259839.
  17. ↑ Reshetnikov SV, Wasser SP, Duckman I, Tsukor K (2000). "Medicinal value of the genus Tremella Pers. (Heterobasidiomycetes) (review)". International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms. 2 (3): 345–67. doi:10.1615/IntJMedMushr.v2.i3.10.
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