Imagine hiking through the woods at night, turning off your headlamp, and finding the forest floor aglow with bioluminescent mushrooms. A couple months ago, while hiking to the Mount Hypipamee Crater in Queensland, Australia, I had the pleasure of
seeing, not just imagining, this uncanny phenomenon. Very little is known about how, or why, certain fungi glow in the dark - only that they do, and that over 70 species have been found to exhibit this trick of nature. The eerie green light emitted by the mushrooms and surrounding leaf and bark litter interwoven with
mycelia, comes as the result of a reaction between oxygen, the protein luciferin, the catalyst luciferase (both from Lucifer, "light bearer"), and occasionally other cofactors. Other organisms exhibit this feature, including bacteria, fireflies, the Cookiecutter shark, anglerfish, and many others. But why mushrooms? To attract insects for spore dispersal? To warn of toxicity? A byproduct of lignin degradation? No one knows for sure.
Reference:
Cornell University Mushroom Blog
This is so cool!!! Do you know if they are only found in a specific area or are they widespread? I would love to be able see something like this. Must have been amazing to see it when you were in Australia!
ReplyDeleteThey are most common and diverse in the tropics, but also found in temperate regions, including North America. According to one source, those in Australia tend to be the brightest, and hence the most noticeable, whereas those in N. America might require an unnaturally-dark setting to be obvious.
ReplyDeleteI've seen those ;)
ReplyDeleteIn Avatar? ;)
ReplyDelete