Russula

New Guinea "mushroom madness" is apparently due to species of Boletus, Russula and Heimiella. See R. Heim NOUVELvES INVESTIGATIONS SUR LES CHAMPIGNONS HALLUCIN-OGENES (1967). Also see FIELD GUIDE TO THE PSILOCYBIN MUSHROOM (available from P.O. Box 15667, New Orleans, LA 70175). 

Muscarine is found in tiny amounts, usually under 20 pg/g, in other agaric genera, too, such as Amanita, Boletus, Hygrocybe, Lactarius, Mycena, and Russula. It was by the small amounts of muscarine present in A. muscaria, 90 pg/g, that the toxin was detected and identified (and got its name) but muscarine in A. muscaria usually does not account for the symptoms that occur after ingestion of this fungus, which are produced by muscimol and its precursor ibotenic acid. 

Several chlorinated hydroquinone derivatives with cytotoxic activity have been isolated from the toxic mushroom Russula subnigricans, russuphelins A-D (33-36) and the tetramer russuphelol (37), the latter... 

Fig. 3.14 The banana slug (Ariolimax columbianus) feeding on the mushroom Russula roscea (= R. sanguima) (Photo W. F. Wood)...

The toxic mushroom Russula subnigricans produces the novel polychlorinated phenyl ethers, russuphelins A-F (1928-1933), some of which (B, C, D) exhibit cytotoxicity against P388 leukemia cells (1672, 1800). Further study of this mushroom uncovered the presence of the optically active russuphelol (1934) (1801). The terrestrial cyanobacterium Fischerella ambigua has afforded ambigol C (1935) (1654), which is an isomer of the previously described ambigols A and B (1). 

Takahashi A, Agatsuma T, Ohta T, Nunozawa T, Endo T, Nozoe S (1993) Russuphelins B, C, D, E and F, New Cytotoxic Substances from the Mushroom Russula subnigricans HONGO. Chem Pharm Bull 41 1726... 

Ohta T, Takahashi A, Matsuda M, Kamo S, Agatsuma T, Endo T, Nozoe S (1995) Russuphelol, a Novel Optically Active Chlorohydroquinone Tetramer from the Mushroom Russula subnigricans. Tetrahedron Lett 36 5223... 

Interesting lumazine derivatives have been isolated from Russulae as yellow, fluorescing pigments, called russupteridine-yellow I and IV. It has been suggested that the proposed structures be represented by the more likely tautomers (444) and (445) <84HCA550,84HCA570). 

A second prerequisite for a role of EMF in aluminium transport from the E to the O horizon is that hyphae growing in the E horizon are attached to EM root tips in the O horizon. Work on the vertical distribution of hyphae and EM root tips in a Swedish podzol profile showed that several EM species live in both the O horizon and the E horizon (Landeweert et al., 2003, Rosling et al., 2003). For Dermocybe, Russula, Piloderma and Cortinarius, the clones found in the extracted DNA from the E horizon match with DNA from EM root tips in the O horizon of the same soil profile. That suggests that at least some EM root tips from the O horizon could have extramatrical hyphae growing into the mineral soil. 

As a conclusion, the trinity system Russula, Asterophora, mA Asterotremella is remarkable, and may be fundamental in the evolution of sexuality, especially primary homothallism and subsequently heterothallism in fungi. 

Lactarius deliciosus and Russula cyanoxantha are well known delicious, edible mushrooms. 

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