Injury-Triggered Blueing Reactions of Psilocybe “Magic” Mushrooms; Lenz et al. 2020
Friday Journal Club #2
Few things before we begin:
Welcome to journal club, we’re super casual here
Follow me on Twitter @TyQuig and The Tab on Instagram @thetab_psychedelicscience to keep even MORE up to date
Anyone interested in working with me on a sikk trippy science logo?
If you have a cool/interesting/funny comment, leave it! Let’s discuss!
Part of this newsletter is 24/7 office hours. If you have a question about psychedelic science, send it my way. This also helps me gauge what you people want to hear about.
Okay, on to our article for the day:
Injury-Triggered Blueing Reactions of Psilocybe “Magic” Mushrooms
Why they did it:
Apparently, because the blueing reaction is a “conundrum [that] has attracted natural products chemists for years.”
The real reason: The fact that magic mushrooms turn friggin’ BLUE is cool as hell do we really need more of a reason?
What they did & What they found:
First the researchers grew Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms (They’re using malt extract peptone agar… time to switch up your 🧫 recipe?).
They then froze the stems in liquid nitrogen, crushed them up, and extracted their proteins via liquid chromatography (LC), a set of techniques used to separate molecules based on their chemical properties.
LC produces a “fraction” which is a small amount of liquid with a bunch of different proteins from the original fungal tissue. 🧪
From this fraction, they identified two enzymes thought to be involved in the blueing process:
PsiP: A phosphatase, which converts psilocybin to psilocin by removing it’s phosphate group
PsiL: A laccase, which has the ability to oligomerize (connect) multiple psilocin molecules through the process of oxidation (removal of electrons from atoms/molecules)
They ran some tests to confirm that these proteins work the way they think they do.
By then they had a hunch that the blue color is caused by the oligomer formed when multiple psilocin molecules are connected. They confirmed this by oxidizing a solution of psilocin and checking if the psilocin molecules merged. They did. ✋🏽→🙌🏽
Now, to figure out exactly how the psilocin molecules are connected, they used a bunch of mmm’ 🎩 sophisticated machines to determine what sort of bonds and chemical arrangements are present in the psilocin oligomers. The patterns they found support the hypothesis that the psilocin molecules are oligomerized through oxidation.
Based on their understanding of the PsiP and PsiL enzymes, the presence of psilocin oligomers after oxidation, and the chemical structure of the products of these reactions, the authors concluded that psilocin, the same molecule that makes us trip, also makes mushrooms turn blue upon bruising, but only after linking up with other psilocin molecules. ⛓
The question remains:
What is the function of psilocybin/psilocin in fungi? It seems like psilocybin serves as a deactivated store of psilocin, which can be rapidly converted into psilocin oligomers through the reaction in Fig. 1 when the mushroom is disturbed. While there has been speculation that psilocin might protect against insects, a recent study suggests this is likely not the case. Until we figure this one out, I’m going to stick with the most plausible explanation we have: psilocybin was sent us, through space, via mushroom spores, from another civilization in our galaxy. I mean, why not?
I appreciate your feedback on how I did breaking down this science. Let me know in the comments:
Think more people should know about psychedelic science? Share my newsletter with your people, 'because your people are my people ✌🏽.
📃 Here’s the paper:
Lenz C, Wick J, Braga D, García‐Altares M, Lackner G, Hertweck C, et al. Injury‐Triggered Blueing Reactions of Psilocybe “Magic” Mushrooms. Angew Chemie Int Ed [Internet]. 2020 Jan 20;59(4):1450–4. Available from: here.
Mo’ Mushrooms Mo’ Magic
🍄 Curious (for science reasons) what psilocybin-containing mushrooms grow in your area? Check here. 🍄
🌈 This video does a stellar job at highlighting fungal diversity while also making you feel like everything is finally right in this world:
🤖 SIKE here’s mushrooms talking?
🧠 That’s a wrap! Happy Friday, see you Monday for The Biology of Psychedelics 🔬
So, if I were to beat up my mushrooms before ingesting them, would that then speed up the onset?