Just over two years ago I started this research journey on magic mushrooms. I feel privileged for this opportunity and to have joined a community fascinated by these Fungi. Some new knowledge may have slipped by over two years, and now, at the end, it seems like a good time to summarise the outcomes, knowledge gaps, rejected hypotheses, and my predictions. Psilocybe cubensis Is naturalised in Australia. We know this because there is a large drop in its effective population size, followed by a recovery. It has very low mitochondrial diversity (we expect high diversity in a centre of origin), low diversity at psilocybin loci, but reasonably high diversity at mating loci because it has been outbreeding since its arrival. Psilocybe cubensis probably does not infiltrate the soil, which is why it doesn't occur in soil sequencing data. Rather it colonises manure, develops its hymenium, fruits, spreads new spores that are probably eaten by livestock, and then they come out the other end. Each genotype is ephemeral, which is why temporal sampling over three years at Tallebudgera shows unrelated genotypes. I believe there is population structure by geography, but movement of cattle and manure helps long-distance dispersal. Cubes were certainly not introduced intentionally by recreational growers. They've been here too long and there is no shared ancestry with cultivated lineages based on genetic analyses. There is more allelic diversity of P. cubensis in one piece of manure in Australia than in entire cultivated lineages. With this reservoir of diversity, someone with the right laminar flow could fix traits unseen by the community and put some 'spice' back into cultivated cubes. The majority of cultivated P. cubensis either came from one naturalised population or one genotype, it's hard to tell (to understand this, look at some of my cube networks with knowledge that clusters in Australia all came from one parental genotype). Cultivars like Penis envy have been completely inbred to the point where there is almost no heterozygosity in their genomes. This is part of the breeding process to fix traits over time, and may explain why 'a cube is a cube' despite unexplored diversity waiting for innovation. Psilocybe subaeruginosa Has a centre of origin in Australia and is surely an example of a saprotrophic invader in the northern hemisphere. We have high phenotypic diversity in undisturbed national parks, high diversity at mitochondria, mating genes, psilocybin loci, and even in ribosomal DNA (like the ITS region). Whether the diversity of P. subaeruginosa translates to taxonomic diversity is tricky. Mushrooms must differ at their mating loci to cross, and separated populations may maintain connectivity through mate compatibility even after long periods of separation (as long as they still recognise each other). If it were up to me, I would treat everything as one phenotypically diverse species, P. subaeruginosa, which has limited gene flow among some spatially separated populations. Subs are perennial. That patch you visited in the 90s is the same mycelium you visit now. That mycelium will spread outward, as that genotype moves in its little area, fights other genotypes and decomposes wood and leaf litter (thank you subs). This conclusion is based on what you there in the community tell me, and the prolific sibling relationships recovered from many sampled mushrooms. For example, we recovered sibling relationships from many sampled mushroom pilei whether adjacent to each other, or further apart (such as Geelong and Clifton Hill). There is a lot of diversity in the psilocybin locus, and one mushroom can be heterozygous for different alleles in the pathway. Jeeze those three copies of psiH must do something! I favour a hypothesis that wood lover's paralysis is caused by a tryptamine analogue metabolised by one of these 'rogue' psiH genes and that binds to peripheral serotonin receptors. Have you seen the curative effects of MDMA on patients with Parkinson's Disease (check them out)? Before I tap out of shroom research, I'll make sure to share the cultures of suspected wood lovers (based on psiH) with people smarter than me. Entourage effect
I am a geneticist and believe that genetic differences translate to phenotypic differences. There is allelic diversity in the genes that metabolise tryptophan into psilocybin in both cubes and subs. I think this is why people have different experiences from different patches of mushrooms. When I read studies that conclude there is no difference in the experiences of psilocybin, LSD, and mescaline (like this one) my mind boggles. Is this because they use synthetic psilocybin? Is it because we don't have the language to describe these different experiences? I wish I knew. I look forward to meaningful research on the entourage effect, and whether this can be linked to genotype at the psilocybin locus (which controls the phenotypic concentrations of active tryptamines). Maybe designer shrooms will be a thing in the future. Diversity of hallucinogenic fungi in Australia The metabolic diversity of fungi in Australia is woefully understudied. Somewhere up in the NT is a magic mushroom in our soils, only a matter of time for its discovery. Based on the BASE soil sequencing data, there are only four species of Psilocybe in Australian soils. The dung niche must have more. If P. cubensis does not show up in soil sequencing data, maybe other dung inhabiting fungi are the same, and more await discovery. I look forward to seeing the discoveries of hallucinogenic mushrooms that must be present in our tropical rainforests (just as there is rich diversity in PNG). If you're on the ground, get spore prints, these just make life easier for the next mycologist :). The future of psilocybin use in Australia What an exciting time where we get to watch a stigma dissolve. But there are hurdles yet. Magic mushrooms have been used safely for millenia, however we hear that more time is needed to ensure their safe use. What makes them unsafe? (i) temporary psychoses (=a bad trip), (ii) impaired judgement during an experience, (iii) counter-indications with other medications like SSRIs, and (iv) legal penalties for their possession. We've pinned our hopes for psilocybin on the medical community who have an interest to control the use of psilocybin (at $25,000 for treatment is the recent estimate I read). I'm reminded of the adage 'never ask a barber if you need a haircut.' The dogma of clinical trials, which rely on medicines outperforming a placebo, is inadequate to meaningfully measure the impact of psilocybin. That other clinical trials cannot determine differences in perception between psilocybin and LSD (mentioned above) is curious, as I've heard the difference is comparable to a chamois and steel wool. After >50 years of research the medical community have agreed that set and setting make a difference to a psilocybin experience. Thank you to all you advocates of safe practice; in the last two years I have been contacted by many people desperate to try psilocybin and improve their quality of life, and these people in long term pain will ultimately benefit from your knowledge. Shame about the whole 'going to jail for a mushroom' thing in the meantime. For those who want to research magic mushrooms It's possible the last two years were a bit of a failure academically. I received 0/6 grants (=up to six months of work writing grants and some delightfully harsh personal feedback), published one paper, another is in review here, and another is in preparation. This information translates to: there is ample room to find new knowledge, but you'll need a couple of planets to align if you want funding. I did this research on a Fellowship from covid stimulus for one year, and have worked part-time ever since. BioPlatforms Australia kicked in ~$17,000 (in-kind) for sequencing genomes, the rest were sequenced on the back of plant pathology funding leftovers. You need mentors who will give you freedom. I was told by nearly all my mentors not to work on magic mushrooms and that it would end my career. Well, my research career is probably ending, but if anything, magic mushrooms gave it more life and this has been the most interesting, exciting, and motivating topic in 16 years studying Fungi. Thank you to Kelly from BioPlatforms, Entheogenesis for helping share my journey, Louise, Tim James (for fresh ideas when sharing knowledge on Psilocybe with the scientific community), all of you who have sent me spores including, Snu, Jan T, Dave H, Sarah L, Matt W, Andy B, Rhys L, Tim S, Bock and Dan, Feryl Beryl Bunyip, Bill, Davie GGG, Josh B, Chris Apples, Chris M, Ema, Sequoia, Ronny, Greta Puls, and Caine :) I might make another one or two posts when the last work is published and to update on my next career stage... until then take it easy. Tchao for meow and thanks for reading. Alistair
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
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
|