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Good news, your butthole is multi-purpose too 😘
Plant update
New leaves 🌱 that means it’s a good day!!
Why are some mushrooms “magic?”
Psychedelic mushrooms likely developed their “magical” properties to trip up fungi-munching insects, suggests new research.
The work helps explain a biological mystery and could open scientific doors to studies of novel treatments for neurological disease, said lead researcher Jason Slot, an assistant professor of fungal evolutionary genomics at The Ohio State University.
Mushrooms that contain the brain-altering compound psilocybin vary widely in terms of their biological lineage and, on the surface, don’t appear to have a whole lot in common, he said.
From an evolutionary biology perspective, that is intriguing and points to a phenomenon in which genetic material hops from one species to another – a process called horizontal gene transfer, Slot said. When it happens in nature, it’s typically in response to stressors or opportunities in the environment.
He and his co-authors examined three species of psychedelic mushrooms – and related fungi that don’t cause hallucinations – and found a cluster of five genes that seem to explain what the psychedelic mushrooms have in common.
“But our main question is, ‘How did it evolve?’” Slot said. “What is the role of psilocybin in nature?”
Slot and his co-authors found an evolutionary clue to why the mushrooms gained the ability to send human users into a state of altered consciousness. The genes responsible for making psilocybin appear to have been exchanged in an environment with a lot of fungus-eating insects, namely animal manure.
Psilocybin allows fungi to interfere with a neurotransmitter in humans and also insects, which are probably their bigger foe. In flies, suppression of this neurotransmitter is known to decrease appetite.
“We speculate that mushrooms evolved to be hallucinogenic because it lowered the chances of the fungi getting eaten by insects,” Slot said. The study appears online in the journal Evolution Letters.
“The psilocybin probably doesn’t just poison predators or taste bad. These mushrooms are altering the insects’ ‘mind’ – if they have minds – to meet their own needs.”
And the reason that unrelated species have the same genetic protection probably comes down to the fact that they commonly grow in the same insect-rich mediums: animal feces and rotten wood.
This work could guide medical science by pointing researchers in the direction of other molecules that could be used to treat disorders of the brain, Slot said.
Psilocybin has been studied for the treatment of a variety of mental disorders, including treatment-resistant depression, addiction and end-of-life anxiety. A handful of researchers in the U.S. are looking at potential treatment applications, and much of the work is happening abroad. Strict drug laws have delayed those types of studies for decades, Slot said.
Professor: Don’t share your PPE with anyone you wouldn’t exchange bodily fluids with.
Me: That’s a pretty big list.
Sempervivum is a genus of about 40 species of succulent species in the family Crassulaceae. They are widespread across north Africa and Europe where they grow in a variety of habitats from dry deserts to alpine areas. The genus name Sempervivum means “always living” in Latin, and is in reference to this plants ability to thrive in extremely harsh conditions, and it’s perennial habit; Sempervivum maintains its basal rosette of leaves year round. The leaves are covered in hairs which, coupled with the succulent nature of the leaves, aid in water retention. While Sempervivum is popularly cultivated as an ornamental, it has been used medicinally for centuries to aid in everything from indigestion to burns.
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biologicalchemistry
N6-methyladenine: A Newly Discovered Epigenetic Modification
The majority of cellular functions are carried out by proteins encoded by specific genes present in cellular DNA. Genes are first transcribed to RNA which is then translated to proteins. The regulation of this process is important for maintaining correct cellular function. One of the ways that cells regulate gene expression is by epigenetic modifications to chromatin. The term “epigenetics” refers to reversible chemical modifications of DNA and histone proteins (DNA in the nucleus of eukaryotes is wrapped around histones) that affect the transcriptional status of genes. A number of histone modifications such as methylation and acetylation of lysine residues have already been discovered and characterized. Until recently; however, methylation of the 5 position of cytosine was the only known epigenetic DNA modification (A). Methylation of cytosine by DNA methyltransferases is associated with transcriptional silencing, while the removal of these methyl groups by TET enzymes is associated with transcriptional re-activation (B and C). In addition to controlling gene silencing, cytosine methylation also silences retrotransposons, a class of mobile genetic elements. If left unregulated, transposons can insert themselves into important regions of the genome and lead to mutagenesis.
Recently, N6-methyladenine, a new epigenetic modification, was discovered in mammalian cells. N6-mA had previously been discovered in prokaryotes and simple eukaryotes and was shown to function as a transcriptional activator. By contrast, a recent report published in Nature, has shown that N6-mA functions as a transcriptional silencer in mammalian cells, specifically in mouse embryonic stem cells. N6-mA primarily acts to silence the LINE-1 family of retrotransposons during early embryogenesis, which prevents genomic instability. The authors identified N6-mA by using a modified single molecule DNA sequencing technique. DNA bound to a specific modified histone protein was immunoprecipitated using an antibody against a specific histone modification (H2A.X), sequenced, and analyzed by mass spectrometry (D). This identified and determined the position of N6-mA. The authors then generated knockouts of the enzyme Alkbh1, which they believed may function as a demethylase for N6-mA. When Alkbh1 was absent from cells, they found an increase in the levels of N6-mA, showing that Alkbh1 functions as an N6-mA demethylase in vivo. This is important because epigenetic modifications are reversible. Genes can be turned off by methylation and then turned back on by removing the methyl group, so determining the enzyme responsible for the removal of N6-mA supports its role as an epigenetic modification.
For more information see:
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature17640.html
As always, I’m happy to answer any questions or go into more detail.
