An international study has found that Amanita phalloides, a deadly fungus native to Europe, is able to reproduce without a partner in California, according to a scientific paper by a researcher from the University of Coimbra.
Researcher at the Center for Functional Ecology (CFE) of the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra (FCUC), Susana C. Gonçalves, is one of the authors of a scientific article about this study, revealing “strange sexual problems”. the life of this mushroom European in California and helps explain the rapid spread of the fungus.”
The deadly fungus Amanita phalloides originates from Europe but was accidentally introduced to the United States of America (USA), where it has spread, especially on the West Coast.
The study, entitled “Invasive California Death Caps Fungus Evolve Same- and Bisexually” and published in the journal Nature Communications, “determined that in California the fungus is capable of reproducing without a partner by self-fertilizing.”
According to Anne Pringle from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, US, coordinator and senior author of the study, this is “an unusual type of sexual reproduction in fungi that has rarely been observed outside the laboratory.”
“This species typically reproduces bisexually: the underground structures, the mycelium, of two different compatible individuals fuse to form mushrooms containing the DNA of both individuals,” he explains.
This type of reproduction is “still happening in Europe”: a team of researchers sequenced the DNA of fungi from Europe, including several populations in Portugal, and found that they “contain two sets of genetic material, one from each parent.”
However, in California, where mushrooms of this species were first discovered in the early 20th century, “the fungus appears to be doing something completely different.”
“The DNA of some California mushrooms contained only one set of genetic material, indicating that each of them came from a single individual. How this happened is not very clear,” the study authors note.
According to the researchers, Amanita phalloides “somehow bypasses the genetic controls that ensure that mushrooms are only produced when two individuals fuse together.”
“The ability to self-fertilize can be an advantage when moving to a new habitat where there are no compatible partners,” states Susana K. Gonsalves.
According to the study authors, unisexuality may help explain the species’ rapid spread along the West Coast of the United States.
“The next step is to find out whether other invasive fungal species use similar strategies in nature,” he concludes.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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