Schizophyllum Commune
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''Schizophyllum commune'' is a species of
fungus A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...
in the genus '' Schizophyllum''. The mushroom resembles undulating waves of tightly packed corals or a loose Chinese fan. Gillies or split-gills vary from creamy yellow to pale white in colour. The
cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...
is small, wide with a dense yet spongey body texture. It is known as the split-gill mushroom because of the unique, longitudinally divided nature of the namesake
gills A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...
on the underside of the cap. It is found on rotting wood throughout the world. This fungus is an
opportunistic 300px, ''Opportunity Seized, Opportunity Missed'', engraving by Theodoor Galle, 1605 Opportunism is the practice of taking advantage of circumstances — with little regard for principles or with what the consequences are for others. Opport ...
environmental
pathogen In biology, a pathogen (, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of"), in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a Germ theory of d ...
as well as an edible mushroom (when young).


Etymology

'' Schizophyllum'' is derived from
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
] ''Schíza'' meaning split because of the appearance of radial, centrally split, gill like folds; ''commune'' means common or shared ownership or ubiquitous.


Description

''Schizophyllum commune'' is usually described as a morphological species of global distribution, but some research has suggested that it may be a
species complex In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...
encompassing several
cryptic species In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...
of more narrow distribution, as typical of many mushroom-forming
Basidiomycota Basidiomycota () is one of two large divisions that, together with the Ascomycota, constitute the subkingdom Dikarya (often referred to as the "higher fungi") within the kingdom Fungi. Members are known as basidiomycetes. More specifically, Basi ...
. The caps are wide with white or grayish hairs. They grow in shelf-like arrangements, without stalks. The
gills A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...
, which produce
basidiospore A basidiospore is a reproductive spore produced by basidiomycete fungi, a grouping that includes mushrooms, shelf fungi, rusts, and smuts. Basidiospores typically each contain one haploid Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromos ...
s on their surface, split when the mushroom dries out, earning this mushroom the common name split gill. The mushrooms can remain dry for decades and then be revived with moisture. The
spore print 300px, Making a spore print of the mushroom ''Volvariella volvacea'' shown in composite: (photo lower half) mushroom cap laid on white and dark paper; (photo upper half) cap removed after 24 hours showing warm orange ("tussock") color spore print. ...
is white.


Mating

It has a tetrapolar mating system with each cell containing two mating-type loci (called A and B) that govern different aspects of the mating process, leading to 4 possible
phenotype In genetics, the phenotype () is the set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism. The term covers the organism's morphology (physical form and structure), its developmental processes, its biochemical and physiological propert ...
s after cell fusion. Each locus codes for a mating type sublocus ''(α'' or ''β'') and each type is multi-allelic: the A locus has 9
alleles An allele is a variant of the sequence of nucleotides at a particular location, or locus, on a DNA molecule. Alleles can differ at a single position through single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP), but they can also have insertions and deletions ...
for the ''α'' type and an estimated 32 for its ''β'' type, and the B locus has 9 alleles each for both its ''α'' and ''β'' types. When combined this gives an estimated 9 \times 32 \times 9 \times 9 = 23328 potential mating type specificities. This does not mean all different mating types are compatible with one another, because compatibility between haploid individuals exists only when for both the A and the B mating-type locus at least the ''α'' or ''β'' are different. Strains are thus compatible with \left(1 - \frac \right) \times \left( 1 - \frac \right) \approx 0.984 = 98.4 \% of the population. While all mating types can initially fuse with any other mating type, a fertile
fruit body The sporocarp (also known as fruiting body, fruit body or fruitbody) of fungi is a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures, such as basidia or asci, are borne. The fruitbody is part of the sexual phase of a fungal life cyc ...
and subsequent spores will result only if both the A and B loci of the merging cells are compatible. If neither the A nor B are compatible the result is normal monokarytic
mycelium Mycelium (: mycelia) is a root-like structure of a fungus consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. Its normal form is that of branched, slender, entangled, anastomosing, hyaline threads. Fungal colonies composed of mycelium are fo ...
, and if only one of A or B are compatible, the result is either two mycelia growing in opposite directions (only A compatible) or a "flat" phenotype with no mycelia (only B compatible).


Genetics

The
genome A genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding genes, other functional regions of the genome such as ...
of ''Schizophyllum commune'' was sequenced in 2010.


Habitat and distribution

It is common in rotting wood. It can be found throughout the world, year-round in places such as North America.


Constituents

Hydrophobin Hydrophobins are a group of small (~100 amino acids) cysteine-rich proteins that were discovered in filamentous fungi that are lichenized or not. Later similar proteins were also found in Bacteria. Hydrophobins are known for their ability to fo ...
was first isolated from ''S.'' ''commune''. Some sources indicate that this mushroom contains
antitumor Cancer treatments are a wide range of treatments available for the many different types of cancer, with each cancer type needing its own specific treatment. Treatments can include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy, targe ...
and
antiviral Antiviral drugs are a class of medication used for treating viral infections. Most antivirals target specific viruses, while a broad-spectrum antiviral is effective against a wide range of viruses. Antiviral drugs are a class of antimicrobials ...
components.


As an environmental pathogen

It may be a common cause of fungal infections and related diseases, most commonly that of the lungs. They have also been reported to cause
sinusitis Sinusitis, also known as rhinosinusitis, is an inflammation of the mucous membranes that line the sinuses resulting in symptoms that may include production of thick nasal mucus, nasal congestion, facial congestion, facial pain, facial pressure ...
and allergic reactions.


As food

This mushroom is edible when young. The species was regarded as nonpoisonous by Orson K. Miller Jr. and Hope H. Miller, who considered it to be inedible due to its smallness and toughness.


In North America

It is consumed in Mexico (
Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...
,
Quintana Roo Quintana Roo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Quintana Roo, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, constitute the 32 administrative divisions of Mexico, federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into municipalities of ...
and
Tabasco Tabasco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tabasco, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Tabasco, 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa. It i ...
, which are tropical). The preference for tough, rubbery mushrooms in the tropics was explained as a consequence of the fact that tender, fleshy mushrooms quickly rot in the hot humid conditions there, making their marketing problematic.


In Central America

This mushroom is sold in markets in Guatemala.


In East Asia

Known locally in Chinese as ''baishen'' (白参), this mushroom is enjoyed as food in
Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...
,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
.


In South Asia

In
Northeast India Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political Administrative divisions of India, administrative division of the country. It comprises eight States and ...
, in the state
Manipur Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...
, it is known as ''kanglayen'' and one of the favourite ingredients for Manipuri-style pancakes called ''paaknam''. In
Mizoram Mizoram is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India, with Aizawl as its Capital city, capital and largest city. It shares 722-kilometres (449 miles) of international borders with Bangladesh to the west, and Myanmar t ...
, the local name is ''pasi'' (''pa'' means ''mushroom'', ''si'' means ''tiny'') and it is one of the highest rated edible mushrooms among the Mizo community.


Gallery

File:Schizophyllum commune SMCA 02.jpg, ''Schizophyllum commune'' in the
Santa Cruz Mountains The Santa Cruz Mountains ( Mutsun Ohlone: Mak-sah-re-jah, "Sharp Ridged Mountain of the Eagle" or "People of the Eagle Mountain") are a mountain range in central and Northern California, United States, constituting a part of the Pacific Coast R ...
of California File:Schizophyllum commune, Fuzzy Fungi.jpg, ''Schizophyllum commune''
Elk Grove, Illinois Elk Grove Village is a village in Cook and DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Per the 2020 census, the population was 32,812. Located northwest of Chicago along the Golden Corridor, the Village of Elk Grove Village was incorporate ...
File:Schizophyllum commune - Nature does pleats.jpg, ''Schizophyllum commune'' in
Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
, US File:Split-gill bottom shot.jpg, ''Schizophyllum commune''
Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...
Lõhkislehik.jpg, ''Schizophyllum commune'' in
Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...


References


External links

* *
"Schizophyllum commune"
MykoWeb

{{Taxonbar, from=Q941733 Schizophyllaceae Animal fungal diseases Fungal plant pathogens and diseases Fungi of North America Fungi of South America Fungi of Central America Fungi of Europe Fungi of Asia Fungi of Africa Fungi of Australia Fungi described in 1815 Edible fungi Taxa named by Elias Magnus Fries Fungus species Fungal pathogens of humans Rare infectious diseases