Diario del proyecto Michigan Macrofunga Project

The 2022 mushroom season is here! Yet again, I ask for your assistance in collecting lorchels and related mushrooms (Discina, Gyromitra, and Hydnotrya) to help determine the distribution, genetics, and evolution of gyromitrin. ​Gyromitrin is a mycotoxin produced most infamously by Gyromitra esculenta, a deadly poisonous mushroom that is consumed as a delicacy in Finland (after being properly prepared to remove most of the gyromitrin). We actually have no idea which genes make gyromitrin, how gyromitrin biosynthesis evolved in lorchels, or for that matter which species produce gyromitrin. I’m attempting to answer these questions for my PhD research! If you'd like to read more about the project, you can find a longer description on my website.

If you were able and willing, I’d greatly appreciate donations of any and all fungal specimens in the family Discinaceae (Gyromitra, Discina, and Hydnotrya). If you would like to donate any that you find for this project, a few things need to happen for the specimen to be usable:

1. The specimen needs to be documented with photographs in the field. The most valuable specimens are accompanied by complete metadata such as collection date, location, GPS coordinates, habitat, substrate, and morphological description. Please read more about best practices for photographing and collecting mushrooms at Fungal Diveristy Survey.
2. While not required, a spore print is highly desirable as it helps in trying to culture a fungus. We can use the dried hymenium for culturing but contamination is a much greater issue. Spore deposits allow for cleaner culturing. However, lorchels are notoriously finicky with spore prints. You can try the normal method of acquiring a spore print by placing the hymenium face down on a piece of paper or alumin foil at home, but this seems to have a low success rate. A method that seems to work better for Gyromitra and other Pezizales is placing the fresh mushroom or a portion of the hymenium while in the field into a small, sterile, plastic petri dish or roll it up in aluminum foil. If placing the hymenium in a petri dish, you can position it and hold it steady close to the lid with a base of leaves or moss. The humidity of the container facilitates spore release. Over time you will see a spore deposit being formed on the lid. You can aid in the process by opening the lid slightly and closing the lid abruptly to create some pressure that discharges the asci, or by blowing on the tissue and closing the lid quickly. Back at home, remove everything from the petri dish. You can vew the lid under a microscope to confirm the presence of a spore deposit. Circle the deposit with a Sharpie on the outside of the petri dish, wipe the bottom portion with an ethanol wipe, and let the ethonol evaporate and the spores dry out (which you can see happen under the microscope). Close the petri dish, seal it up, and preserve with the specimen. The spore deposit can be used months to years in the future in serial dilutions to generate single spore isolates.
3. Your data need to be uploaded to either Mushroom Observer or iNaturalist. Instructions for doing so can be found here.
4. The specimens need to be completely dried, placed into a sealable bag, and labelled with the Mushroom Observer or iNaturalist number, along with whatever other information you’d like to physically include. More information on how to dry mushrooms for long term storage can be found here. A note on drying: this is a project focused on volatile mycotoxins, I highly recommend drying these mushrooms in a place with good ventilation!
5. Notify me that you are going to send me some specimens by filling out this form.
6. Pack your specimens in a box and send them to the following address: Alden Dirks, 4050 Biological Sciences Building, 1105 N. University Ave, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109. I have received specimens in flat mailers and envelopes that arrive completely fragemented, so please make sure to use a noncrushable container.

For each specimen I receive I will attempt to sequence the ITS and LSU rDNA barcodes. I will share these data with you as well as my sequence-based identification. Some specimens may be selected for gyromitirn analysis, culturing, or whole genome sequencing.

​Something important to note: your specimens are received as donations. Unfortunately I do not have access to fund to reimburse you for time or expenses related to your donation, including shipping costs, and the specimens cannot be returned to you. Rather, they will be accessioned at the University of Michigan fungarium for long-term safekeeping and storage. Make sure to make a “split” (keep a portion of the mushrooms for yourself) if you are interested in holding onto it for personal study. For this project I have been working with some fungarium specimens that are over 100 years old. Your donated specimens will live on as research subjects long in the future, perhaps for centuries to come.

Thank you for sharing your time, energy, and knowledge in the form of mushrooms donations. Your specimens have been invaluable so far and I am greatly appreciative of all your help!

As of this writing, there are 1,325 species of fungi documented in Michigan. This number is likely inflated by singletons - species that have only been observed once and therefore may be a result of misidentification. For whatever reason, I was unable to see species with fewer than four oberservations in the Michigan Macrofunga Project page to suss out these singletons and other rarely observed species. My dilemma was solved when I learned about a handy iNaturalist feature: the compare tool. I wanted to bring this tool to everyone's attention because it seems so useful! (Note, however, that at the bottom of the page iNaturalist warns that this tool is experimental and may be removed at any time!)

This tool works by entering two or more queries. Each query filters all the observations in iNaturalist by some criteria that you specify, and then lists species that are shared or not shared between these different lists. So maybe you want to compare the different polypore species you've found relative to all the polypores found in Michigan? The first query would include the taxon number for Polyporales and the project name for Michigan Macrofunga Project. The second query would include these same two filters (assuming you were interesting in only looking at your observations made in Michigan) as well as your user number. So for myself, the two queries would look like this:

• taxon_id=47380&project_id=michigan-macrofunga-project
• taxon_id=47380&project_id=michigan-macrofunga-project&user_id=1180604

I can see that I've only documented 14 of the 87 species (as well as some groups at the genus level) in Michigan! If I want to compare observations of Polyporales in Michigan to all Polyporales species in the world, I can simplify the queries as such:

• taxon_id=47380
• taxon_id=47380&project_id=michigan-macrofunga-project

Now I can see that we have documented 84 species (maybe a few at the genus level) in Michigan out of the total of 681 species of Polyporales listed in iNaturalist. I can then sort the species in Michigan by number of observations to find the singletons. There was one observation of Laetiporus huroniensis, which looks like Laetiporus sulphureus but grows on conifers. It seemed to me like this one observation was misidentified given that the forest floor was coverd with deciduous leaves. There were also a few species with inactive names that never got synonymized. A few singletons are indeed good species. A species with one observation, Fibroporia radiculosa, is one that I found at a professional foray and was identified by a polypore expert Hal Burdsall.

I hope this small demonstration showed how useful this tool can be for comparing your own observations as well as aiding in identification of Michigan mushrooms!

Dear Mycophiles,

I am conducting research on the production of gyromitrin in false morels and related mushrooms in the family Discinaceae. Some of you may already be familiar with this project or have even sent specimens to me – thank you! This post is meant to ask for your assistance in acquiring more specimens and to provide a few updates on the project.

BACKGROUND
Gyromitrin is a mycotoxin produced most famously by Gyromitra esculenta, a deadly poisonous mushroom that is consumed as a delicacy in Scandinavia (after being properly prepared to remove most if not all the gyromitrin). We actually have no idea how gyromitrin is biosynthesized, how it evolved in false morels, or even what other species contain gyromitrin (and therefore might be safe to consume or best avoided). I’m attempting to answer some of these questions for my PhD research!

IF YOU WANT TO HELP
If you were able and willing, I’d greatly appreciate donations of fungal specimens in the family Discinaceae* from the genera Gyromitra, Discina, and Hydnotrya. In the past, I welcomed any fungi from Discinaceae, Morchellaceae, and Helvellaceae, but now we are just focusing on Discinaceae. Also in the past, I requested frozen specimens. As many of you predicted with alarm, that was nasty. Currently, we’d just like dried specimens because we found that gyromitrin is detectable in dried specimens. So, please be on the lookout for these fungi. If you would like to donate any that you find for this project, a few things need to happen for the specimen to be usable:

1. The fresh specimen needs to be documented with photographs and data uploaded to Mushroom Observer or iNaturalist with, at a minimum, GPS coordinates. Further data on habitat, surrounding vegetation, etc. add value to the collection. If you are new to this, please read more about collecting and documenting mushrooms here: https://fundis.org/sequence/collect-dry/collect-document
2. The specimen needs to be completely dried, packed into some bag or envelope, and labelled with the Mushroom Observer or iNaturalist number, along with whatever other information you’d like to physically include. A note on drying: this is a project focused on volatile mycotoxins, I highly recommend drying these mushrooms in a place with good ventilation! For more information on how to dry mushrooms for long term storage, please see https://fundis.org/sequence/collect-dry/dry-your-specimens
3. Notify me that you are going to send me some specimens! You can direct message me on Facebook, iNaturalist, Mushroom Observer, or my personal website aldendirks.com (name = Alden Dirks on all platforms) if you do not have my email.
4. Send your specimens to the following address: Alden Dirks, 4050 Biological Sciences Building, 1105 N. University Ave, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
5. Some things to keep in mind: Unfortunately, I do not have access to funds to reimburse anybody for time or expenses related to the donation of mushrooms, including shipping costs. Also note, any specimens donated will not be returned. They will be accessioned at the University of Michigan Fungarium for permanent safekeeping (I’ll share the accession number with you).
6. I am primarily looking for widespread geographic and phylogenetic sampling across Discinaceae rather than 50 specimens of a single taxon from the same location. I probably won’t be able to analyze everything I receive depending on the number of donations and what comes my way. If I am able to work with your specimen, I will try to culture it, DNA barcode it (ITS rDNA), and assay it for gyromitrin. If that’s the case, I will share the sequence with you and my sequence-based identification. I am also sequencing whole genomes, so your specimen might be selected for that if it is the only or best representative of a species.
7. THANK YOU!!

*A semi-curated list of all species of interest based on current accepted name in MycoBank
Discina adnata Berk. & M.A. Curtis
Discina ancilis (Pers.) Sacc.
Discina biondiana Arcang.
Discina caroliniana (Bosc) Eckblad
Discina coronaria Beck
Discina disticha Starbäck
Discina emarginata Berk. & Broome
Discina emileja Cooke
Discina epixyla Pat.
Discina lenta Starbäck
Discina martinicae Pat.
Discina martinii (Donadini & Astier) Donadini & Astier
Discina megalospora (Donadini & Riousset) Donadini & Riousset
Discina melaleuca Bres.
Discina mongolica P. Karst.
Discina orbicularis (Peck) Sacc.
Discina pallida Velen.
Discina pallide-rosea Henn.
Discina palmicola Berk. & M.A. Curtis
Discina pululahuna Pat.
Discina radiosensilis Falck
Discina roblinensis Wichanský
Discina scrobiculata Fr.
Discina stephensoniana Ellis
Discina submembranacea Henn.
Discina sullivantii Mont.
Discina urnula Velen.
Hydnotrya badia L. Fan, Y.W. Wang & Y.Y. Xu
Hydnotrya bailii Soehner
Hydnotrya brunneospora L. Fan, Y.W. Wang & Y.Y. Xu
Hydnotrya cerebriformis (Tul. & C. Tul.) Harkn.
Hydnotrya confusa Spooner
Hydnotrya cubispora (E.A. Bessey & B.E. Thomps.) Gilkey
Hydnotrya ellipsospora Gilkey
Hydnotrya inordinata Trappe & Castellano
Hydnotrya laojunshanensis Lin Li, D.Q. Zhou & Y.C. Zhao
Hydnotrya nigricans L. Fan, Y.W. Wang & Y.Y. Xu
Hydnotrya puberula L. Fan, Y.W. Wang & Y.Y. Xu
Hydnotrya soehneri Svrcek
Hydnotrya subnix Trappe & Castellano
Hydnotrya tulasnei (Berk.) Berk. & Broome
Hydnotrya variiformis Gilkey
Gyromitra accumbens Harmaja
Gyromitra ambigua (P. Karst.) Harmaja
Gyromitra antarctica Rehm
Gyromitra anthracobia Loizides, P.-A. Moreau & Bellanger
Gyromitra apiculatula (McKnight) Berthet
Gyromitra arctica Vassilkov
Gyromitra brunnea Underw.
Gyromitra bubakii Velen.
Gyromitra californica (W. Phillips) Raitv.
Gyromitra chirripoensis L.D. Gómez
Gyromitra columbiana Harmaja
Gyromitra convoluta (Seaver) Van Vooren
Gyromitra discinoides (S. Imai) S. Imai
Gyromitra esculenta (Pers.) Fr.
Gyromitra fluctuans (Nyl.) Harmaja
Gyromitra gabretae Kavina
Gyromitra gigas (Krombh.) Quél.
Gyromitra infula (Schaeff.) Quél.
Gyromitra khanspurensis Jabeen & Khalid
Gyromitra korfii (Raitv.) Harmaja
Gyromitra korshinskii (Jacz.) P.M. Kirk
Gyromitra labyrinthica Fr., Öfvers. K. VetenskAkad. Förh.
Gyromitra lactea J.Z. Cao, L. Fan & B. Liu
Gyromitra larryi (McKnight) Harmaja
Gyromitra leucoxantha (Bres.) Harmaja
Gyromitra longipes Harmaja
Gyromitra mcknightii Harmaja
Gyromitra macrospora (Bubák) Harmaja
Gyromitra melaleucoides (Seaver) Pfister
Gyromitra microspora (Donadini & Bozonnet) Harmaja
Gyromitra montana Harmaja
Gyromitra neuwirthi Velen.
Gyromitra olympiana (Kanouse) Harmaja
Gyromitra parma (J. Breitenb. & Maas Geest.) Kotl. & Pouzar
Gyromitra perlata (Fr.) Harmaja
Gyromitra pseudogigas X.C. Wang & W.Y. Zhuang
Gyromitra recurva (Snyder) Harmaja
Gyromitra sichuanensis Korf & W.Y. Zhuang
Gyromitra sphaerospora (Peck) Sacc.
Gyromitra spinosospora (Lucchini & Pelland.) A. Koch, Christan & Lohmeyer
Gyromitra splendida Raitv.
Gyromitra tasmanica Berk. & Cooke
Gyromitra tianshanensis X.C. Wang & W.Y. Zhuang
Gyromitra ticiniana G. Littini
Gyromitra venenata Hai J. Li, Z.H. Chen & Zhu L. Yang
Gyromitra xinjiangensis J.Z. Cao, L. Fan & B. Liu

We are all eagerly anticipating the emergence of one of our favorite ascomycete fungi - morels (Morchella spp.). Some other ascomycetes that many mushrooms hunters are familiar with and that we can be found in the spring are the false morels (Gyromitra spp.), elfin saddles (Helvella spp.), and true truffles (Tuber spp.), not to mention lichenized fungi. However, did you know that the phylum Ascomycota is the most diverse group of fungi and there are actually many, many more ascomycetes that one can find in the woods? Except for a single genus (Neolecta spp.), the ascomycetes that produce macroscpic fruiting bodies (ascocarps) are entirely in the subphylum Pezizomycotina, which in turn is composed of over a dozen taxonomic classes.

One of these classes, the Leotiomycetes, is currently undergoing comprehensive phylogenetic revision by an international group of mycologists. You might be familiar with a few fungi in this class. Have you ever noticed those black tar spots on maple leaves? That is the Leotiomycetes fungus Rhytisma acerinum. Another lovely Leotiomycetes fungus that you may be acquainted with is the lemon discos, Bisporella citrina. Finally, I'd be remiss if I failed to to mention the eponymous genus of the class, the jelly babies, like Leotia lubrica. In short, you may not have been aware that you are actually already familiar with some Leotiomycetes fungi.

There are a whole lot more Leotiomycetes fungi and we need your help finding them. The goal is to DNA sequence 15 genes from as many Leotiomycetes fungi as possible to get as comprehensive DNA sequence coverage for the class to better understand its evolutionary history and taxonomy. To be clear, we do not need specimens of the more common species mentioned above (Rhytisma acerinum, Bisporella citrina, or Leotia lubrica), but representatives from any of the following groups would contribute greatly to this endeavor:

• Family Ascocorticiaceae
• Family Ascodichaenaceae
• Family Bryoglossaceae
• Family Calloriaceae
• Genus Coprobolus (found on rabbit dung)
• Family Cordieritidaceae
• Genus Deltopyxis
• Genus Durandiella
• Genus Durella
• Genus Gelatinosporium
• Family Helicogoniaceae
• Genus Hysteropezizella
• Order Lahmiales
• Genus Leptokalpion
• Genus Myriodiscus
• Family Neolauriomycetaceae
• Genus Pachydisca
• Genus Phragmiticola
• Genus Polydiscina
• Genus Pragmopora
• Genus Propolina
• Order Rhytismatales (except Rhytisma spp.)
• Genus Vandijckella

There's something for everybody in this list: cup fungi, plant pathogens, and many other unique shapes and ecologies. One of my favorite ways to go mushroom hunting is to have a specific target. It motives me and excites me. Even if I don't find the thing I am looking for, I end up spotting lots of other intersting fungi, plants, and critters that make the experience worthwhile. Please contact me, Alden Dirks, or Danny Haelewaters on iNaturalist if you find any of these fungi or if you are interested in learning more about this project.

In my opinion, turkey tail (Trametes versicolor) is the most misapplied fungus name on iNaturalist. At one point, it was almost as commonly observed as Polyporus squamosus, the top observed species in Michigan. As I identified these observations (i.e., called the majority of things Trametes sp., Polyporales, or Agaricomycetes), I was convinced that a quick reference – or at least strong words of caution - were needed to bring enlightenment to this fowl situation.

Trametes constitutes a genus of thin, polyporoid fungi, typically with concentric zones of color and fuzziness. While everything gets labelled as T. versicolor, there are actually 18 species in North America, and an estimated 50 species globally (Justo and Hibbett, 2011)! In northeastern North America, MushroomExpert.Com (Kuo, 2017) discusses six common Trametes species:

• Trametes elegans
• Trametes hirsuta
• Trametes ochracea
• Trametes pubescens
• Trametes versicolor
• Trametes villosa

Justo and Hibbett (2011) include four species in the T. versicolor group (supposedly ones that are closely related and also easily misidentified as one another): three that are showcased by Michael Kuo, T. ochracea, T. pubescens, and T. versicolor, as well as a fourth that he does not mention, T. ectypa. All require closer attention to detail for a positive identification than is typically reserved for polypores, specifically characteristics such as pores per mm and cap fuzziness. It is made all the more challenging when — true to its name — T. versicolor is so versatile in its coloration.

Beyond Trametes, a whole suite of genera appear similar to turkey tail without close inspection, which unfortunately is the norm for polypore observations on iNaturalist rather than the exception. These include species in the crust genus Stereum (in the order Russulales!) as well as other polypore genera such as Cerrena, Coriolopsis, and Daedaleopsis. If you need more convincing that T. versicolor identification is not cut and dried, do a quick Google search for Coriolopsis - from the top, these look a whole lot like T. versicolor!

When you are looking to identify a turkey tail mushroom, for starters check out the Trametes versicolor key at MushroomExeprt.Com. Next time you spot a specimen in this truly common but wholly taxonomically misapplied group, take a few more moments to appreciate and photograph those small details, especially the pore surface.

References

Justo, A., & Hibbett, D. S. (2011). Phylogenetic classification of Trametes (Basidiomycota, Polyporales) based on a five-marker dataset. Taxon, 60(6), 1567–1583. https://doi.org/10.1002/tax.606003

Kuo, M. (2017, November). Trametes versicolor. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/trametes_versicolor.html

Today we celebrate United State's 243^th birthday as well as @koinpro 's 67 observations of Polyporus squamosus. @koinpro has the most observations of P. squamosus... in the world! This melony mushroom is also Michigan's most popular fungus on iNaturalist with 324 confirmed observations. P. squamosus is considered an edible fungus, although I have never prepared it in a way that was satisfying. Regardless, it is a pleasant sight in the spring because it marks the beginning of mushroom season and the fact that morels could be afoot.

Do you eat this mushroom and have a good recipe to share? What do you like about it?

Going through his backlogs, @megachila recently posted an observation of a strange mushroom that looked like little inflated (and some collapsed) balloons on stems. After requesting the attention of heavyweight mycologists, it was identified as Physalacria inflata. This species confounded taxonomists for centuries, according to the Forest Floor Narrative blog. DNA evidence has put it solidly in Physalacriaceae, a family that includes typical gilled mushrooms such as the honey mushrooms (Armillaria spp.). This appears to be the first observation of P. inflata from Michigan on iNaturalist, and it has only been observed three times in the state on Mushroom Observer. Great job @megachile!