The biodiversity of saprotrophic and ectomycorrhizal basidiomycetous macrofungi growing on seven islands in central Japan were compared to examine colonizing success within the context of island biogeography theory. Two hypotheses were tested: that the number of the fungal species depends on island area and that the slope of the species-area curve for saprotrophic and ectomycorrhizal macrofungi...

The biosorption characteristics of Pb(II) and Cd(II) ions from aqueous solution using the macrofungus (Amanita rubescens) biomass were investigated as a function of pH, biomass dosage, contact time, and temperature. Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) models were applied to describe the biosorption isotherm of the metal ions by A. rubescens biomass. Langmuir model fitted the equ...

BACKGROUND Cultural significance is a keystone in quantitative ethnobiology, which offers the possibility to make inferences about traditional nomenclature systems, use, appropriation and valuing of natural resources. In the present work, using as model the traditional mycological knowledge of Zapotecs from Oaxaca, Mexico, we analyze the cultural significance of wild edible resources. METHODS...

This is an in vivo study detailing the effects of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and the level of lipid peroxidation (LPO) products in liver homogenates from mice treated with alpha amanitin or phalloidin. Spectrophotometry was the main method used in this study. Our results showed that both toxins increased SOD activity, confirming an earlier in vitro study. In addition, our presen...

ectomycorrhizal community change over a nitrogen deposition gradient in Alaska. Ecology 83: 104–115. Lumbsch HT, Buchanan PK, May TW, Mueller GM. 2008. Phylogeography and biogeography of fungi. Mycological Research 112: 423–424. Matheny PB, Aime MC, Bougher NL, Buyck B, Desjardin DE, Horak E, Kropp BR, Lodge DJ, Soytong K, Trappe JM et al. 2009. Out of the palaeotropics? Historical biogeography...

The deadly poisonous Amanita phalloides is common along the west coast of North America. Death cap mushrooms are especially abundant in habitats around the San Francisco Bay, California, but the species grows as far south as Los Angeles County and north to Vancouver Island, Canada. At different times, various authors have considered the species as either native or introduced, and the question o...

Objective: Hepatic impairment resulting from the use of conventional drugs is widely acknowledged, but there is less awareness of the potential hepatotoxicity of herbal preparations and other botanicals, many of which are believed to be harmless and are commonly used for self-medication without supervision. The aim of this paper is to examine the evidence for hepatotoxicity of botanicals and dr...