Project description:Gymnopilus junonius, a well-known poisonous mushroom, is distributed worldwide. It contains a hallucinogenic alkaloid psilocybin and several other bioactive compounds. The mitochondrial genome, a circular DNA molecule of 161,145 bp, comprises 15 protein-coding genes, 24 transfer RNA genes, and 2 ribosomal RNA genes. The guanine-cytosine content was 31.56%. Based on the mitochondrial genome sequence, a phylogenetic tree was constructed to demonstrate the phylogenetic relationship. In this study, the phylogenetic positions of G. junonius and its related genera were determined.
Project description:Gymnopilus consists of a widely distributed genus of basidiomycetes, especially in tropical regions of the world, such as Japan, Australia, Paraguay, and Brazil. This genus biosynthesizes interesting bioactive compounds, such as sesquiterpenoids, oligoisoprenoids, styrylpyrones, and lectins. In the present study, the aqueous extract of the basidiomata of Gymnopilus imperialis (Basidiomycota, Agaricomycetes, Agaricales, Hymenogastraceae) was obtained by using the accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) technique, followed by the precipitation of polysaccharide fraction with ethanol. Further purification by freeze-thawing processes, Fehling solution precipitation, and membrane dialysis with different pore sizes yield three main polysaccharide fractions (Gi-MRSW, Gi-PFME, and Gi-SFME). According to monosaccharide composition and 13C-NMR data, the Gi-MRSW and Gi-SFME fractions showed to be composed mainly of β-glucans and Gi-PFME by a heterogalactan. Moreover, the immunomodulatory potential of Gi-MRSW was evaluated using RAW 264.7 murine macrophage as a study model. The nitric oxide production was significantly increased in treated samples, and the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) showed that the fraction Gi-MRSW from G. imperialis induces the M1 polarization phenotype.