Fermentative production of amanita toxins by a strain of Galerina marginata.

Among the violently poisonous species of Amanita, none has received more attention than A. phalloides (Fr.) Secr. By 1959, five related cyclopeptidic toxins had been extracted from this mushroom and named phalloidin, phalloin, and a-, j3-, and y-amanitin. T. Wieland and 0. Wieland (Pharmacol. Rev. 11:87, 1959) reviewed the chemistry and toxicology of these compounds. A sixth toxin, phallacidin, has since been isolated by T. Wieland and H. W. Schnabel (Ann. Chem. 657:218, 1962). Although common in Central Europe, A. phalloides is extremely rare in the United States. S. S. Block et al. (J. Agr. Food Chem. 3:584, 1955) tested extracts from 13 Amanita species occurring in the United States. Only those from A.