lucentipes, literally "glowing stem," is one of
four new species of bioluminescent fungi discovered by Professor
Desjardin. Not only do the mushrooms glow as seen above, but their
mycelium (the thread-like filaments that do the work of decomposition)
glow brightly too.
For more than 20 years, biology Professor Dennis
Desjardin has been illuminating the world of fungi, some of nature's
most important recyclers of organic matter. His latest findings
are doing some illuminating of their own.
During recent treks into the old-growth forest habitat south of
São Paulo, Brazil, Desjardin and his colleagues found 10
species of bioluminescent fungi, each capable of producing light
through a chemical reaction. Four of these fungi are new to science.
Desjardin, with colleagues Cassius Stevani of the University of
São Paulo, and Marina Capelari of Brazil's Institute of Botany,
discovered such glowing decomposers as Mycena lucentipes,
literally "glowing stem," (left). "Only the stem
glows, but so brightly that it illuminates the rest of the mushroom
and is bright enough to read by," Desjardin explains. During
the past three decades, he and his colleagues have increased the
number of known bioluminescent fungi by 30 percent.
When did bioluminescence emerge in fungi and why? Desjardin's research
team is seeking answers by extracting and sequencing DNA and developing
a mushroom "family tree" that includes glowers along with
their nonglowing relatives.
To date, Desjardin has personally published more than 150 new species
and three new genera of mushrooms; he has hundreds more waiting
for his attention in the Harry D. Thiers Herbarium in Hensill Hall.
With more than 85,000 specimens of fleshy fungi, it is the largest
and most important collection of these taxa west of the Mississippi
and includes mycota from around the world, including the Hawaiian
Islands, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, South America, Europe and Australia.
Desjardin has added small dried specimens of the glowers to the
herbarium, which can be toured by special appointment.
For more information: www.sfsu.edu/~puboff/HiddenTreasures