麻豆淫院

A team of biologists, mycologists and microbiologists in the U.S., South Africa and Zimbabwe reports that a species of mushroom growing in parts of Africa is the closest relative of Psilocybe cubensis, the most widespread hallucinogenic mushroom known to science.

In their , posted to the bioRxiv preprint server, the team collected samples of both types of mushrooms, sequenced them and then compared them to see how alike they were.

P. cubensis is known by many names around the globe, including magic mushrooms, shrooms or gold caps. The mushroom has famously hallucinogenic effects on the human brain. In this new effort, the research team wanted to learn more about their evolutionary history. They collected and tested samples of P. ochraceocentrata, which are well known in Africa and Asia, but have been little studied by Western scientists.

The researchers noted first the physical resemblance between the two kinds of mushrooms. After sequencing both types, they found P. ochraceocentrata to be the closest relative of P. cubensis ever studied.

The researchers note that prior research has shown that Psilocybe first appeared approximately 67 million years ago. Modeling showed that P. cubensis may have been growing in Asia, the Americas and Australia as far back as 2.5 million years ago, though they also note that it is not known how the mushrooms made their way to Australia. They note that in places like North America, bison could have carried the mushrooms across the continent.

Researchers note that Psilocybes, including many psychedelic mushrooms, first emerged around 67 million years ago. A common ancestor of P. cubensis and P. ochraceocentrata may have evolved with large herbivores in East Africa about 1.8 million years ago. Bovids, abundant at the time, helped shape grasslands and savannas, potentially aiding the spread of Psilocybe spores via hoofs or dung. This could explain their divergence in Africa and Asia.

Ecological modeling suggests P. cubensis existed in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Australasia between 2.55 million and 710,000 years ago. The new study proposes that the mushrooms might have arrived in the Americas before Europeans, possibly during bison migrations 190,000 years ago.

The research team also notes that psilocybin has, in recent years, been used as a psychiatric therapy for conditions including depression, ADHD and PTSD. They suggest that breeding the two species of mushrooms could possibly lead to new types of the drug for therapies.

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