Magic mushrooms can do some amazing things, from inducing vivid hallucinations to temporarily "dissolving" a person's ego and potentially even relieving treatment-resistant depression, Science alert reported.
People have long admired these seemingly supernatural mushrooms, but thanks to modern genomics, we're gaining new insights into where their magic really comes from—and how we might use it more effectively.
A new study compiled genomic data on 124 different isolates and cultivated varieties of the psilocybin-producing mushroom Psilocybe cubensis, which humans have probably used to varying degrees since prehistoric times.
Researchers have sought to shed new light on P. cubensis, including how domestication and cultivation by humans has affected its genetic diversity.
They sequenced the genomes of 38 isolates from a P. cubensis population that appeared to have been introduced and are now naturalized in Australia, then compared them to 86 commercial cultivars of P. cubensis whose genomes had already been sequenced.
The Australian-US team hopes to unravel the evolutionary history of Australia's wild mushrooms and learn how domestication has changed commercially available cultivated magic mushroom species.
The researchers report that there is a dramatic lack of genetic diversity in commercial cultivars, possibly due to the effects of domestication.
The naturalized population in Australia shows much greater diversity, including unique gene variants that control the production of the mushroom's active ingredient, psilocybin.
"What was surprising was the extreme homozygosity of some varieties of magic mushroom," says lead author and mycologist Alistair McTaggart of the University of Queensland in Australia.
"Some of these cultivars were almost devoid of any diversity except for the genes controlling sexual reproduction.
"It's hard to know whether this has happened intentionally, through purposeful cross-breeding to fix traits over the past half century, or unintentionally, due to a lack of diversity to cross with," he added.
Instead of financial support, the study relies on a broad community of enthusiasts who collect samples and send them at their own risk and expense, the authors note.
"The innovators who domesticated magic mushrooms set the stage for how we can advance mushroom cultivation and innovation as we improve our understanding of psilocybin and its benefits," says McTaggart.
The study found that the population of P. cubensis in Australia is indeed naturalized, having probably been introduced from elsewhere and established in the wild, developing a large enough population to support genetic diversity.
On the other hand, commercial cultivars lack diversity in their genomes, the researchers reported. Humans probably had a hand in this, although many questions remain about the history of magic mushroom cultivation, including why genetic diversity has declined so much.
Nevertheless, genetic diversity like that of Australia's naturalized population could help pull back the curtain on magic mushrooms even further, offering valuable new details about exactly what they—and we—are capable of.
These results suggest that gene variants in Australian mushrooms may allow for differences in the way they produce psilocybin and related compounds, the authors reported, noting some intriguing implications of this kind of insight.
Their data on mating compatibility and the diversity of genes controlling psilocybin production, for example, "will contribute to the cultivation of 'designer mushrooms' in which heterozygosity of psilocybin alleles can unlock diversity in the production of psychedelic tryptamines," McTaggart explained.
Humans have a long history with mushrooms, and although they are now widely banned as dangerous drugs, more and more research is raising awareness of their therapeutic potential, including for major depression, anxiety and PTSD.
"Magic mushrooms are the cheapest source of psilocybin and may fill a niche in natural medicine development," says McTaggart. "There is still much to learn about how magic mushrooms produce other compounds that may influence the psilocybin experience, and this will be an exciting area of research to watch."/BGNES
