''Hypomyces chrysospermus'', the bolete eater, is a parasitic

ascomycete Ascomycota is a phylum of the kingdom Fungi that, together with the Basidiomycota, forms the subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the sac fungi or ascomycetes. It is the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species. The def ...

fungus that grows on

bolete A bolete is a type of mushroom, or fungal fruiting body. It can be identified thanks to a unique cap. On the underside of the cap there is usually a spongy surface with pores, instead of the gills typical of mushrooms. A similar pore surface i ...

mushrooms, turning the afflicted host a whitish, golden yellow, or tan color. It is found in Eurasia and North America, as well as southwest Western Australia. Bolete eater and its afflicted host mushrooms are not edible and may be poisonous.

Taxonomy

''Hypomyces chrysospermus'' was first described by French mycologists, brothers Louis René and

Charles Tulasne Charles Tulasne (5 September 1816 – 28 August 1884) was a French physician, mycologist and illustrator born in Langeais in the département of Indre-et-Loire. He received his medical doctorate in 1840 and practiced medicine in Paris until 185 ...

in 1860. Common names include bolete eater, and bolete mould. The bolete eater belongs to a genus of parasitic ascomycetes, each of which infects differing genera of fungi. For example, ''H. lactifluorum'' attacks mushrooms of the family Russulaceae, ''H. completus'' and ''H. transformans'' infect ''

Suillus ''Suillus'' is a genus of basidiomycete fungi in the family Suillaceae and order Boletales. Species in the genus are associated with trees in the pine family (Pinaceae), and are mostly distributed in temperate locations in the Northern Hemisphe ...

'' species, ''H. melanocarpus'' prefers ''

Tylopilus ''Tylopilus'' is a genus of over 100 species of mycorrhizal bolete fungi separated from '' Boletus''. Its best known member is the bitter bolete (''Tylopilus felleus''), the only species found in Europe. More species are found in North America, ...

'' species, while other ''Hypomyces'' have a much broader host range.

Description

upleft, Ascus and spores The bolete eater infects boletes, initially with a thin whitish layer which then becomes golden and finally a reddish-brown pimpled appearance. The bolete's flesh softens and is putrescent by the third stage. Single or multiple boletes may be infected, species of ''

Paxillus ''Paxillus'' is a genus of mushrooms of which most are known to be poisonous mushroom, poisonous or inedible. Species include ''Paxillus involutus'' and ''Paxillus vernalis''. Two former species—''Tapinella panuoides'' and ''Tapinella atrotomen ...

'' and '' Rhizopogon'' are also attacked. The

spores In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual (in fungi) or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plant ...

are oval-shaped and smooth in the white stage and measure 10–30 by 5–12 μm, and are warty, round and thicker-walled in the yellow stage and are 10–25 μm in diameter. These two stages are asexual, while the final stage is sexual; here the spores are spindle-shaped and measure 25–30 by 5–6 μm.

Similar species

The related lobster mushroom, '' H. lactifluorum'', is edible. Several species of the genus may be indistinguishable without microscopy.

Distribution and habitat

''Hypomyces chrysospermus'' is found in North America, and Europe, where it is common. It is common in the southwest of Western Australia, where it is found in forest and coastal plant communities. It is also found in the Eastern Chinese provinces of

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

, and

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

Human uses

''H. chrysospermus'' is not edible and may be poisonous. It is used in

traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medicine, alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. A large share of its claims are pseudoscientific, with the majority of treatments having no robust evidence ...

to stop bleeding, primarily via topical application onto open wounds.

Cadmium tolerance in fungi

Fungi have demonstrated an ability to effectively absorb heavy metals, which has increased interest in using them for low-cost and efficient pollution remediation in heavily contaminated environments. ''H. chrysospermus'' tolerates cadmium by expressing specific genes in response to cadmium stress, helping it absorb and resist heavy metal pollution. Notably, it activates 1,839 genes related to membrane functions and metal transport, offering valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying its tolerance.

References

Wang, Y. et al. (2022). Transcriptome analysis of the response of Hypomyces chrysospermus to cadmium stress. ''Frontiers'', 13, 1-12. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.990693/full {{Taxonbar, from=Q3487883 Fungi described in 1860 Hypocreaceae Inedible fungi Parasitic fungi Taxa named by Edmond Tulasne Fungus species