Mycena
Mycena amicta
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Agaricales
Family: Mycenaceae
Genus: Mycena
(Pers.) Roussel (1806)
Type species
Mycena galericulata
(Scop.) Gray (1821)
Species

See text

Mycena sp.
View the Mycomorphbox template that generates the following list
Gills on hymenium
Cap is conical
Hymenium is adnate
Stipe is bare
Spore print is white
Ecology is saprotrophic
Edibility is unknown
Mycena rubroglobulosa, Wellington, New Zealand.
The blue pixies' parasol (Mycena interrupta) growing on a log in East Gippsland (Australia).
Mycena seynesii

Mycena is a large genus of small saprotrophic mushrooms that are rarely more than a few centimeters in width. They are characterized by a white spore print, a small conical or bell-shaped cap, and a thin fragile stem. Most are grey or brown, but a few species have brighter colours. Most have a translucent and striate cap, which rarely has an incurved margin. The gills are attached and usually have cystidia. Some species, like Mycena haematopus, exude a latex when the stem is broken, and many species have a chlorine or radish-like odour.

The name Mycena comes from the Ancient Greek μύκης mykes, meaning "fungus".[1] Species in the genus Mycena (and in Hemimycena) are commonly known as bonnets.[2]

Description

Mycenas are hard to identify to species and some are distinguishable only by microscopic features such as the shape of the cystidia. Some species are edible, while others contain toxins, but the edibility of most is not known, as they are likely too small to be useful in cooking. Mycena pura and Mycena rosea contain the mycotoxin muscarine, but the medical significance of this is unknown.

In terms of morphology, Mycena mushrooms are notably minute in their size (anywhere from 0.5 to ~15cm in cap-size). Pileate-stipitate in form, there can exist a wide range in both the anatomical characteristics and color of the basidiocarps -- though most often basidiocarps are grey or brown.[3] Veils and volva presence in the morphology is not observed. The hymenium is most often either lamellate or poroid, dependent upon the species.[4] Spores are smooth and can be amyloid or non-amyloid, also dependent upon the species. Some species also secrete a latex-like fluid when damaged at the base of the stem.[3]

Over 58 species are known to be bioluminescent,[5][6] creating a glow known as foxfire. These species are divided among 16 lineages, leading to evolutionary uncertainty in whether the luminescence developed once and was lost among many species, or evolved in parallel by several species. One advantage of bioluminescence may lie in its potential to attract insects that can disperse the mushroom's spores.[7]

Bioluminescence in the genus occurs as a reaction between oxygen and luciferin molecules catalyzed by the enzyme luciferase.[8] In recent years, mycologists have conducted research examining the development of bioluminescence within fungi, investigating the origin of the genes coding for luciferase enzymes that cause these fantastic visible traits. So far, the literature suggests 3 separate origins of bioluminescence within Agaricales, occurring within the families Omphalotaceae, Physalacriaceae, and Mycenaceae.[4]

Ecology

Traditionally, the group has been thought to play a purely saprotrophic role in the environment, mostly occurring on hardwoods and producing white rots -- though it should be mentioned that some plant pathogens have also been discovered.[4] Additionally, it is also worth noting that, in a more recent study, Thoen et al. challenges the traditional view that the genus is saprobic ecological role, suggesting instead that the ability of Mycena to form plant root interactions in vitro may indicate the capability to establish ectomycorrhizal relationships with a host.[9]

Taxonomy

Mycena is a rich genus, considered one of the most abundant genera of mushrooms within the Agaricales and with species distributed across the world.[3]

Alexander Smith's 1947 Mycena monograph identified 232 species; the genus is now known to include about 500 species worldwide.[10] Maas Geesteranus divided the genus into 38 sections in 1992, providing keys to each for all the species of the Northern Hemisphere. Many new species have been discovered since then, and four new sections have been proposed. Taxonomy is complex, as most sections are not truly homogeneous, and the keys fail for some species, especially those that satisfy some criteria for only part of their life cycle. Some sections contain only one species.

Selected species

See also

References

  1. ↑ Rea, Carleton (1922). British Basidiomycetaceae: a Handbook to the Larger British Fungi. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 373.
  2. ↑ "Recommended English Names for Fungi in the UK" (PDF). British Mycological Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-16.
  3. 1 2 3 Arora, David (1 October 1986). Mushrooms Demystified. Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed. ISBN 978-0-89815-169-5. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 Desjardin, Dennis E.; Oliveira, Anderson G.; Stevani, Cassius V. (February 2008). "Fungi bioluminescence revisited". Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences. 7 (2): 170–182. doi:10.1039/b713328f. PMID 18264584. S2CID 10637645.
  5. ↑ Desjardin DE, Perry BA, Lodge DJ, Stevani CV, Nagasawa E (2010). "Luminescent Mycena: new and noteworthy species". Mycologia. 102 (2): 459–77. doi:10.3852/09-197. PMID 20361513. S2CID 25377671. Archived from the original on 2021-06-10.
  6. ↑ Desjardin DE, Oliveira AG, Stevani CV (2008). "Fungi bioluminescence revisited". Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences. 7 (2): 170–82. doi:10.1039/b713328f. PMID 18264584. S2CID 10637645.
  7. ↑ Oliveira et al. 2015. Circadian Control Sheds Light on Fungal Bioluminescence. Current Biology, 25(7).
  8. ↑ Wilson, Thérèse; Hastings, J. Woodland (November 1998). "BIOLUMINESCENCE". Annual Review of Cell and Developmental Biology. 14 (1): 197–230. doi:10.1146/annurev.cellbio.14.1.197. ISSN 1081-0706. PMID 9891783. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  9. ↑ Thoen, Ella; Harder, Christoffer Bugge; Kauserud, Håvard; Botnen, Synnøve S.; Vik, Unni; Taylor, Andy F. S.; Menkis, Audrius; Skrede, Inger (July 2020). "In vitro evidence of root colonization suggests ecological versatility in the genus Mycena". New Phytologist. 227 (2): 601–612. doi:10.1111/nph.16545. hdl:2164/14550. PMID 32171021. S2CID 212718454.
  10. ↑ "National Geographic Photo in the News article". Archived from the original on 2018-01-23. Retrieved 2006-11-02.
  11. ↑ "Mycena abramsii(Murrill)". Mushroom Observer.
  12. 1 2 3 Chew AL, Tan YS, Desjardin DE, Musa MY, Sabaratnam V (2014). "Four new bioluminescent taxa of Mycena sect. Calodontes from Peninsular Malaysia". Mycologia. 106 (5): 976–88. doi:10.3852/13-274. PMID 24891424. S2CID 207706192.
  13. ↑ Takahashi; et al. (2016). The Agaric flora in Southwestern Japan. p. 209.

Further reading

  • Smith, Alexander Hancett. North American Species of Mycena. Ann Arbor: Univ. of Michigan Press, 1947.
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