Poor taxonomy can kill

The famous mycological magazine Mycotaxon has a logo with the inscription "Bad Taxonomy Can Kill". Mycology, along with herpetology, is one of the biological disciplines, where a mistake in species identification can cost life. Many people died due to the fact that they could not distinguish a pale bark from raw or champignon. For a mycologist (as well as for an experienced mushroom pound), such a “confusion” is the top of unprofessionalism, since a pale guess, rahs and champignons are species from different families that differ well not only externally, but also in the smell and places of growth. The more difficult cases when edible and poisonous two mushrooms belong to one genus, and even experts may not immediately recognize different types in them. So, only in 1955, the Japanese mycologist Hongo described the poisonous type of rawers, Russian Subnigricans , which grows not only in Japan, but also in China and the United States. Outwardly, this species is similar to a completely edible raw din of blackening ( Russula nigricans ), a widespread edible Macrolepiota Mastoidea mushroom-zone in Japan has a poisonous double of M. Neomastoidea , described by the same Hongo in 1970. In 1979, the French mycologist Bon described the poisonous mushroom-zontic

Macrolepiota Venenata, which is outwardly almost indistinguishable from the red-thawing mushroom-zontic, macrolepiota ( = chlorophyllum) Rhacodes (in Russia, this mushroom is collected only by experts, since its appearance does not inspire confidence, but it is quite popular in the Baltic states). The similarity of these two mushrooms is so significant that many experts still consider Macrolepiota Venenata only to the poisonous form of M. Rhacodes .

The fact that mushrooms from different places can vary greatly in their toxicity is known for a long time. Thus, the lines ( Gyromitra Esculata ), collected in Germany, have an extremely high content of girmitrine toxin, while their French “colleagues” are used by the local population without any consequences. At the pale execution, collected in the vicinity of New York, the deadly toxin of the phalloidine is more than 3 times more than in Italian puzzles.

Nevertheless, the assumption that the same type of mushrooms can be edible and deadly poisonous remains quite controversial, and in all such cases it is necessary to check species by analysis of DNA. It was with this case that they recently collided in China. In 2012, a group of Chinese scientists (Yang et al. 2012. Mycological Progress 11, 4) described a new type of mushroom, Trogia Venenata , which since 1978 became the cause of the death of more than 400 people in Yunnan province. Outwardly, this mushroom is very similar to the Trogia Infundibuliformis used in Southeast Asia, but is characterized by some microscopic signs, as well as in that it grows in the subtropical mountain region, while T. Infundibuliformis is a widespread tropical appearance. The independence of the new type is confirmed by the analysis of DNA. From Trogia Venenata , two previously unknown toxins from the amino acid group, which were found in the blood of a suddenly dead man. Scientists believe that these amino acids lead to the destruction of muscle cells of the heart. Toxins similar in effects were recently allocated from Zelenushka ( Tricholoma Equestre ), which is widely used, for example, in Belarus and Poland. In Europe, at least three reliable cases of fatal poisoning from this mushroom are recorded.

It is unlikely that the inconspicuous Trogia Venenata attracted the attention of mycologists, if not for a series of mysterious deaths. One can only guess how many such “killer mushrooms” remains so far unrecognized and undeveloped, although, undoubtedly, this does not apply to well-known edible mushrooms growing in the Middle Branch of Russia. Therefore, once again it is worth reminding the long -standing rule of mushroom pickers: collect only what you are absolutely sure of.

Alexey Chernyshev, Dok. Biol. sciences,
Vedas. scientific. sore. Institute of Biology of the Sea of ​​the Russian Federation RAS