New Scientist
Image: a.bower
We may be a step closer to understanding how some meat-eating fungi turned predator. It turns out that the edible oyster mushroom uses a special class of immune system proteins to kill its parasites – and possibly its prey. We carry similar proteins, as do many of our pathogens, and understanding their action could help us fight common diseases.
Most fungi are relatively peaceful, but a small number are carnivorous – perhaps less than 0.5 per cent of all species. Some use nooses to strangle passing nematode worms, others kill insects with lethal toxins. These toxins may include the pleurotolysin protein produced by the edible mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus, according to Michelle Dunstone at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. Read more on newscientist.com…
