Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 March 2024 | 16(3): 24996–24998

ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)

https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8795.16.3.24996-24998

#8795 | Received 18 October 2023 | Final received 01 January 2024 | Finally accepted 06 February 2024

Capturing the enchanting glow: first-ever photographs of bioluminescent mushroom Mycena chlorophos in Tamil Nadu, India

D. Jude ¹, Vinod Sadhasivan ², M. Ilayaraja ³ & R. Amirtha Balan ⁴

¹ 21/A10, Kamaraj Street, Maravankudieruppu, Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu 629002, India.

² 7/1d, Vini Nivas , Moovendhar Nagar, holy cross college road, Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu 629004, India.

³ District Forest Officer, Kanyakumari Division, 175, College Road, Municipality Campus, Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu 629001, India.

⁴ 7/398A, Santhi Illam, Keezhavannan Vilai, Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu 629501, India.

¹ judetwild@gmail.com, ² svinod@gmail.com, ³ ilayaraja180590@gmail.com, ⁴ amirthabalanrs13@gmail.com (corresponding author)

Editor: Sibdas Baskey, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Kalimpong, India. Date of publication: 26 March 2024 (online & print)

Citation: Jude, D., V. Sadhasivan, M. Ilayaraja & R.A. Balan (2024). Capturing the enchanting glow: first-ever photographs of bioluminescent mushroom Mycena chlorophos in Tamil Nadu, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 16(3): 24996–24998. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8795.16.3.24996-24998

Copyright: © Jude et al. 2024. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publication.

Funding: None.

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Acknowledgements: We express our gratitude to Kanyakumari District Forest Department, Mr. Vidyadar ACF for granting permission, Mr. Maria Antony for his guidance and Velmurugan for assisting in the field, as well as to Dr. Utchimahali for providing valuable support for this study.

Mushrooms belong to the group of organisms known as macrofungi under the phylum Ascomycotina and Basidiomycotina within the fungal kingdom. Mushrooms are fleshy, spore bearing-fruiting bodies of the fungus (Chang & Miles 1987). Bioluminescent fungi are members of the order Agaricales, typically found in tropical, sub-tropical, and temperate climates, except for Xylaria hypoxylon (L.) Grev., which is an Ascomycete. Bioluminescence in fungi relies on oxygen and involves the interaction of substrates broadly categorized as luciferins. Luciferins are catalyzed by one or more diverse enzymes collectively referred to as luciferases (Kaskova et al. 2017; Patil & Yadav 2022). The chemical reaction results in the emission of light, characterizing it as cold light. The phenomenon of bioluminescence is primarily exhibited by 103 species of mushrooms (Desjardin et al. 2008; Chew et al. 2014; Desjardin et al. 2016; Weinstein et al. 2016; Karunarathna et al. 2020; Dauner et al. 2021; Oba & Hosaka 2023) of which seven species have been found in India, viz, Mycena indica Sarwal & Rawla (Manimohan & Leelavathy 1988), Omphalotus olearius -(DC.) Singer (Vrinda et al. 1999), Nohopanus eugrammus (Mont.) Singer (Vrinda et al. 1999), Mycena deeptha Aravind. & Manim. (Aravindakshan et al. 2012), Roridomyces phyllostachydis (Karunarathna et al. 2020), Mycena chlorophos (Berk. & M.A.Curtis) Sacc. (Arya et al. 2021) and Armillaria mellea (Vahl) P. Kumm. (Patil & Yadav 2022).

An opportunistic survey was conducted within the protected area of Kanyakumari Wildlife Sanctuary (KKWS) of Tamil Nadu by a team of researchers in the Kulasekharam forest range (8.4064 °N, 77.4327 °E) during the monsoon season (July–September) on 21 Sept 2023. Around 1900 h, we encountered mycelial growth which was recognized as bioluminescent mushroom in the dead and decaying bamboo culms. The fungus was identified based on the current literature available as M. chlorophos (Berkeley & Curtis 1860; Kushwala & Hajirrnis 2016). The mushrooms were photographed using Canon EOS R3 with specific setting f/3.5, ISO-800, Exposure 10 sec. M. chlorophos exhibits luminescent basidiomata and mycelium, whereas its closely related species, M. deeptha (Aravindakshan et al. 2012) in Trivandrum, does not exhibit luminescent basidiomata.

M. chlorophos, was described in 1860 on the Bonin Islands, Japan (Berkeley & Curtis 1860). Recent studies have reported the distribution of this species in both the old world and the new world from recent studies (Desjardin et al. 2010). Hence, it is considered a pantropical distribution (Desjardin et al. 2010). In M. chlorophos, the mature fruiting body is characterized by a pristine white disc morphology featuring a shallow central depression. It emits bright, greenish light in the dark from the basidioma and mycelium (Image 1c). The basidiomata is spherical in buds and has a shallow depression with whitish grey or brown disc like shape when matured. In wet weather, it looks viscid with a thick gluten/gelatinous cover (Image 1b). Pileus 25 mm diameter, parabolic to spherical in buds, surface dark brown to greyish brown, pellucid striate, glabrous, shiny, lamellae adnexed (Image 1d), white, edge concolorous to the sides. Basidioma with discoid stipe base. Mostly the luminescent mushroom (M. chlorophos) habitat was solitary to scattered on dead, decaying bamboo culms rarely on other dead trees. The present study is the first photographic record of bioluminescent fungi in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, India. Earlier M. chlorophos was reported from Western Ghats parts of Kerala (Arya et al. 2021).

The benefits of bioluminescent in fungi include their capacity to attract insects, facilitating their spore dispersal (Bermudes et al. 1992). An alternative hypothesis suggests that bioluminescence may be an incidental outcome of biochemical reactions, devoid of any discernible ecological function (Bermudes et al. 1992). The unsystematic collection/over exploitation of mushrooms inside protected areas leads to depletion of the macro fungal diversity. Habitat destruction is posing a serious threat to mushrooms, leading to their extinction (Swapana et al. 2008). Mushrooms are very sensitive to environmental changes such as increase in global temperature and change in rainfall pattern. This leads to species diversity loss and change in mushroom species distribution. A detailed study on the spatio-temporal distribution of mushrooms is the need of the hour. At this juncture, it would also be highly desirable in understanding the ecological importance of the taxa around KKWLS.

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