Luminescent Mycena: new and noteworthy species

Dennis E. Desjardin¹
Brian A. Perry

     Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, California 94132

D. Jean Lodge

     USDA-Forest Service, Northern Research Station, P.O. Box 1377, Luquillo, Puerto Rico 00773-1377

Cassius V. Stevani

     Instituto de Química da Universidade de São Paulo, Caixa Postal 26077, 05599-970, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

Eiji Nagasawa

     Tottori Mycological Institute, 211, Kokoge, Tottori 689-1125, Japan

Seven species of Mycena are reported as luminescent, representing specimens collected in Belize, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Japan (Bonin Islands), Malaysia (Borneo) and Puerto Rico. Four of them represent new species (Mycena luxaeterna, M. luxarboricola,M. luxperpetua, M. silvaelucens) and three represent new reports of luminescence in previously described species (M. aff. abieticola,M. aspratilis, M. margarita). Mycena subepipterygia is synonymized with M. margarita, and M. chlorinosma is proposed as a possible synonym. Comprehensive descriptions, illustrations, photographs and comparisons with phenetically similar species are provided. A redescription of M. chlorophos, based on analyses of type specimens and recently collected topotypical material, is provided.The addition of these seven new or newly reported luminescent species of Mycena brings the total to 71 known bioluminescent species of fungi.

Key words: Agaricales, bioluminescence, Mycenaceae, mycenoid fungi, taxonomy

ScienceDaily (Oct. 5, 2009) — Seven new glow-in-the-dark mushroom species have been discovered, increasing the number of known luminescent fungi species from 64 to 71. Reported in the journal Mycologia, the new finds include two new species named after movements in Mozart's Requiem. The discoveries also shed light on the evolution of luminescence, adding to the number of known lineages in the fungi 'family tree' where luminescence has been reported.

San Francisco State University Biology Professor Dennis Desjardin and colleagues discovered the fungi in Belize, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Japan, Malaysia and Puerto Rico. The discoveries include four species new to science and three new reports of luminescence in known species. Three quarters of glowing mushrooms, including the species described in the study, belong to the Mycena genus, a group of mushrooms that feed off and decompose organic matter as a source of nutrients to sustain their growth.

"What interests us is that within Mycena, the luminescent species come from 16 different lineages, which suggests that luminescence evolved at a single point and some species later lost the ability to glow," said Desjardin, lead author of the study. He believes that some fungi glow in order to attract nocturnal animals that aid in the dispersal of the mushroom's spores which are similar to seeds and are capable of growing into new organisms.

"It's pretty unusual to find this many luminescent species, typically only two to five percent of the species we collect in the field glow," Desjardin said. "I'm certain there are more out there."

The newly discovered fungi glow constantly, emitting a bright, yellowish-green light, and are tiny, with caps smaller than one centimeter across.

Desjardin has named two of the new species Mycena luxaeterna (eternal light) and Mycena luxperpetua (perpetual light), names inspired by Mozart's Requiem and the fact that these mushrooms glow 24 hours a day. To date, Desjardin has discovered more than 200 new fungi species and together with these latest findings, has discovered nearly a quarter of all known luminescent fungi.

"Luminescent Mycena: new and noteworthy species" was published online in the journal Mycologia on Oct. 5 and will appear in the March/April 2010 print issue. Co-authors include Brian A. Perry, former graduate student at San Francisco State University and currently of the University of Hawaii, D. Jean Lodge of the U.S. Forest Service, Cassius V. Stevani of the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil and Eiji Nagasawa of the Tottori Mycological Institute, Japan.

Mycena chlorophos (seen in daylight, top, and in the dark) is the oldest known glowing fungi, identified in the 1800s in Japan's Bonin Islands.

Ever since, scientists have named any gray fungus that glowed M. chlorophos--even in the New World, where the species does not grow.

In an October 2009 paper, study leader Desjardin, of San Francisco State University, and colleagues finally set the record straight: M. chlorophos is found only in Southeast Asia. In the process, they introduced seven new species of glowing mushrooms to the world.

—Photograph courtesy Eiji Nagasawa, Tottori Mycological Institute, Japan