Fly agaric fungus

NEUROTOXIN constituent of the fly agaric fungus Amanita muscaria and various /nocyfte spp. It is a very potent MUSCARINIC CHOLINOCEPTOR AGONIST with pronounced PARASYMPATHOMIMETIC actions. It is a HYPOTENSIVE, causes bronchoconstriction and stimulates gut, bladder and exocrine glands. Stereoisomers show only a fraction of the activity, and it is valuable as a pharmacological tool in studies on muscarinic receptors. It is very toxic orally, with stimulatory actions on the CNS (atropine sulphate may be used as an antidote). 

The fly agaric fungus Amanita muscaria). Herbert ZettljzefalCorbis... 

They do not occur in the same plant with anthocya-nins, and are therefore taxonomically useful. The red pigment in the cap of the fly agaric fungus is also a B. derivative. All B. are derivatives of Betalaminic acid (see), e.g. Betanin (see), Indicaxanthin (see) and Muscaaurin (see). Red B. are called Betat anins (see). Yellow B. are called Betaxanthins (see). 

Fly Agaric and Panther Caps will grow only in "mycorrhizal relationship with just a few trees—the birch, larch, fir, pine and oak. A symbiotic association between the root cells of these trees (living or dead) and the fungus mass of underground filaments is necessary if the mushroom is to sprout. "Where these trees are not, Wasson writes, "neither does fly-agaric grow. ... 

Muscarine is of no therapeutic use but it has pharmacological interest. It is present in small amoimts in the fungus Amanita muscaria (Fly agaric), named after its capacity to kill the domestic fly Musca domestica)- muscarine was so named because it was thought to be the insecticidal principle, but it is relatively nontoxic to flies (orally administered). The fimgus may contain other anti-muscarinic substances and GABA-receptor agonists (such as muscimol) in amoimts sufficient to be psychoactive in man. 

Muscarine is present in certain mushrooms in many genera, notably the Inocybe and Clitocybe genera, but small amounts are also present in the fly agaric, Amanita muscaria. The ecological function of this nerve poison in the fungus is not understood. In mammals, the typical symptoms are unrest, irritability, excitement, sweating, salivation, respiratory trouble, feeble pulse,... 

The fungus Amanita muscaria (the deadly poisonous fly agaric toadstool) contains >400 times more vanadium than is typical of plants, and the amount present is independent of the vanadium content of the soil in which the fungus grows. Amanita muscaria takes up the metal by using the conjugate base of (5,5)-2,2 -(hydroxyimino)dipropionic acid (H3L) to transport and store the trace metal as the V(I V) complex [VL2] , amavadin. 

This secret was the names and identity of the source of the drug, the key to heaven. The source of the drug It was the Sacred Mushroom. The fungus recognized today as the Amanita Muscaria, or Fly-Agaric, had been known from the beginning of history. Beneath the skin of its characteristic red and white-spotted cap, there is concealed a powerful hallucinatory poison. 

In 1869, Oswald Schmiedeberg (1838-1921) and Richard Koppe at the University ofDorpat (Tartu, Estonia) discovered muscarine in the fungus fly agaric (Amanita muscaria). 

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