We have the following aims.
1. To determine which mushrooms are native to Australia We will sample widely from populations of P. subaeruginosa in Australia to answer whether populations are structured by geography or substrate. We hypothesise P. subaeruginosa is native to Australia and will have relatively high genetic diversity across sampled populations. If P. subaeruginosa is endemic to Australia, there may be flow-on impacts for patents and commercialisation under the Queensland Biodiscovery Act (2006). We expect introduced taxa to have less genetic diversity than native species. For example, invasive fungi that are dikaryotic/diploid (have two copies of a genome, one chromosome inherited from each parent), will have a maximum of two alleles at one locus (heterozygous) if there has been one introduction. More diversity means more introductions (or high diversity from one introduction), but we expect it to be much lower when compared to a native taxon. For example, we may expect P. cubensis to have 3–5 alleles at a locus, compared to P. subaeruginosa that may have many more! 2. To determine how many species occur in Australia In studying populations of P. subaeruginosa, we will resolve the biodiversity of this taxon, specifically whether there are multiple species in the complex. 3. To determine if there is variability in the gene cluster that produces psilocybin across the sampled diversity of P. subaeruginosa Different mushrooms have different effects on people, for example, someone who dabbles in shamanism may tell you that the experience on blue meanies is different to the experience on gold tops. Is this variation genetic? If yes, will crossing a collection of P. subaeruginosa from Tasmania with one from Queensland have an impact on the ratio or action of psilocybin? We expect greatest genetic diversity in the centre of origin of a taxon, and maybe the therapeutic world will benefit from advances in the genetics of psilocybin production. 4. An outcome of our study is to start the first living, culture collection of Psilocybe to safeguard against habitat loss and as a platform for future research A spore print will be made from every mushroom used in the study, and 5–6 cultures will be made from basidiospores (which have one copy of a genome (haploid)). We will phenotype these cultures for growth rate and, potentially, ability to produce psilocybin. The genome of every culture will be sequenced and from there we can determine mating type, versatility of psilocybin production and any other phenotype we can link to a gene. The cultures get stored in a Herbarium (the largest culture collection in Australia) and if anyone ever commercialises a fungus from the collection, they have to enter a benefit sharing agreement with the original land owner, collector or Queensland Government (if collected in Queensland).
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Designer Shrooms @ Funky Fungus on 1st July 2023
I started a gig at Funky Fungus as Chief Scientific Officer to make designer shrooms Our research on Psilocybe
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