A form of mushroom poisoning that leads to often-fatal breakdown of skeletal muscle tissue has been claiming unlucky victims in Japan since at least the 1950s. However, the toxin responsible has eluded mycologists owing to both its instability and confusion about the classification of the Russula mushrooms that it is associated with, say Kimiko Hashimoto of Kyoto Pharmaceutical University in Japan and her colleagues.
They found that Russula subnigricans (pictured) from Kyoto were toxic when fed to mice, whereas similar mushrooms from Miyagi prefecture were not. In addition, they identified the toxic compound responsible for the poisoning: cycloprop-2-ene carboxylic acid.
Extrapolating from data on mice, the researchers say that a serving of two to three mushroom caps (less than 200 grams) would kill most humans.
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Chemistry: Toxic toadstools. Nature 459, 619 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/459619b
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/459619b
