{"id":2317,"date":"2015-07-09T15:55:13","date_gmt":"2015-07-09T19:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.nybg.org\/science-talk\/?p=2317"},"modified":"2015-07-09T15:56:10","modified_gmt":"2015-07-09T19:56:10","slug":"shaggy-ink-cap-a-mushroom-that-can-clean-up-a-mess","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/2015\/07\/shaggy-ink-cap-a-mushroom-that-can-clean-up-a-mess\/","title":{"rendered":"Shaggy Ink Cap: A Mushroom that Can Clean Up a Mess"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maya Jaffe graduated from Florida International University and has had an internship at the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium, where she has worked on a project to digitize macrofungi, the largest types of fungi, including mushrooms.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
[Illustration by Geo. E. Morris (1906), property of NYBG]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I sit behind drawn curtains in a dark room, illuminated only by light tents that are used for taking pictures. It\u2019s another day on the job as an intern in the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium<\/a>, where I am helping in an effort to digitize the New York Botanical Garden\u2019s macrofungi<\/a>. As I make my way alphabetically through the Agaricaceae family, I come across a shaggy ink cap specimen, Coprinus comatus<\/em>, with a beautiful illustration.
\n
\nCoprinus comatus<\/em> is a common edible found in North American and European grasslands. It is a conspicuous mushroom, with a cylindrical white shaggy cap that becomes bell shaped as the mushroom matures and secretes a black liquid that\u00a0is filled with spores.<\/p>\n

Beyond its edibility when young,\u00a0C. comatus<\/em> fascinates me\u00a0because it has been found to be a bioaccumulator of heavy metals, absorbing metals from the soil and concentrating them into the fruiting body. The implications of this are tremendous; this mushroom can potentially be used to sequester contaminants in soil.<\/p>\n

\"Coprinus
Coprinus comatus<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This concept of using fungi as a solution to cleaning up polluted landscapes is referred to as mycoremediation. Many mushrooms can aid in cleaning up polluted sites, and specifically, the shaggy ink cap\u00a0has been found to hyperaccumulate the toxic metals\u00a0cadmium, mercury, and arsenic. Mycoremediation works by inoculating contaminated soil with spores that can then bioaccumulate the metals in\u00a0the soil, restoring the soil\u2019s pH.<\/p>\n

The exact\u00a0mechanism by\u00a0which C. comatus<\/em> takes up metals is currently not\u00a0known, but through powerful enzymes, this mushroom\u00a0is able to bind metals from aqueous solution.\u00a0The ink cap should not be overlooked as a component in an integrated strategy to clean\u00a0up environmentally degraded sites. From mine tailings to agricultural waste, we can use mushrooms to remediate soil and take another step toward\u00a0solving a stubborn pollution problem.<\/p>\n

\n

Further Reading:<\/span><\/p>\n

Dulay, RMR. “Growth Response and Mycoremediation Activity of Coprinus Comatus on Heavy Metal Contaminated Media.”\u00a0Mycosphere\u00a06.1 (2015): 1-7.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dulay, RMR. “Aseptic Cultivation of Coprinus Comatus (O. F. Mull.) Gray on Various Pulp and Paper Wastes.”\u00a0Mycosphere\u00a03.3 (2012): 392-97.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A common edible mushroom makes a name for itself by cleaning up polluted earth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":2321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[17],"tags":[568,112,567,113],"yoast_head":"\nShaggy Ink Cap: A Mushroom that Can Clean Up a Mess - Science Talk Archive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/2015\/07\/shaggy-ink-cap-a-mushroom-that-can-clean-up-a-mess\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shaggy Ink Cap: A Mushroom that Can Clean Up a Mess - Science Talk Archive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A common edible mushroom makes a name for itself by cleaning up polluted earth.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/2015\/07\/shaggy-ink-cap-a-mushroom-that-can-clean-up-a-mess\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Science Talk Archive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-07-09T19:55:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-07-09T19:56:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/450px-Coprinus_comatus_R.H._08.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Maya Jaffe\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/\",\"name\":\"Science Talk Archive\",\"description\":\"Exploring the science of plants, from the field to the lab\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/2015\/07\/shaggy-ink-cap-a-mushroom-that-can-clean-up-a-mess\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/450px-Coprinus_comatus_R.H._08.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/450px-Coprinus_comatus_R.H._08.jpg\",\"width\":450,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/2015\/07\/shaggy-ink-cap-a-mushroom-that-can-clean-up-a-mess\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/science-talk\/2015\/07\/shaggy-ink-cap-a-mushroom-that-can-clean-up-a-mess\/\",\"name\":\"Shaggy Ink Cap: A Mushroom that Can Clean Up a Mess - 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