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, the death cap mushroom. (Archenzo/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 3.0) In spite of being responsible for over 90 percent of mushroom-related fatalities around the world, we still don't know why the death cap mushroom is as lethal as it is. Which makes it a little difficult to discover ways to prevent its toxic effects. Fortunately, scientists may have now identified a substance that could work as an antidote for poisoning by the famously deadly mushroom, Amanita phalloides. In even better news, the candidate, called indocyanine green, is already FDA approved and used as a dye for medical diagnostic imaging. A research...

Can you tell the difference between a tasty paddy straw mushroom and a toxic death cap? Emma Shiells talks to the experts about the potentially deadly chemistry hidden in those gills Death cap mushrooms are, as the name suggests, deadly © Science Photo LibraryOn a damp and drizzly autumnal morning you may think there are better places to be than foraging in the undergrowth of an orchard, but amateur mushroom hunters are sure to disagree with you. Martin Newcombe, an ecologist and fungi enthusiast, is one of those hooked.‘The fact that fungi can grow so quickly makes them fascinating,’ says...

A rise in the number of wild mushroom poisonings in the Bay Area may be linked to our wet winter, state officials said. The California Poison Control System says 14 cases were reported in five counties in December. Three of the victims required liver transplants. The youngest victim was just 18 months old. Poison control says it usually sees just a few cases of so-called "death cap" mushroom poisonings each year. Experts say the abundance of rain likely caused more of the wild mushrooms to sprout. Doctors say symptoms don't appear for many hours, and by then the toxicity is...

A bumper crop of deadly wild "death cap" mushrooms in northern California is likely to blame for the poisonings of 14 people in December, health officials say. The culprit: Amanita phalloides, believed to be the world's most dangerous mushroom. All 14 recovered, but three required liver transplants, and a toddler suffered permanent brain damage, the researchers reported. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that anyone picking wild mushrooms have them evaluated by a specialist before eating them.(snip) The 14 people described in the report had eaten wild mushrooms they picked themselves or received from others.(snip) After eating...

[from Finland] Four people have had to seek medical treatment after having eaten white Amanitas (Amanita virosa), highly toxic mushrooms also known as "destroying angels". Two of the patients have been brought to the intensive care unit of the Surgical Hospital in Helsinki, and it is likely that yet another patient with mushroom poisoning will end up in the same hospital. Only one of the four victims can be treated in a central hospital of his or her own hospital area. The four persons with mushroom poisoning come from various parts of Southern Finland. The poisoning victims who have been...

World-first Australian Truffle FindAn Australian scientist has made a discovery which is electrifying world fungal biology – a new truffle genus related to the famous Amanita family, or fairy toadstools. The Amanita family is famed worldwide for the red and white-spotted toadstools beloved of children's fairy tales, the lethal Death Cap beloved of tabloid media, and a range of delicious edible fungi beloved of gourmets. The find, by CSIRO Forestry and Forest Products mycologist Dr Neale Bougher, highlights Australia as one of the richest centers of truffle biodiversity on the planet. Until Dr Bougher discovered the new fungus in the...