Michigan Macrofunga Project's Journal

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.

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