Ganoderma lucidum

Reishi or Lingzhi Mushroom

Classification

A few common names: Reishi,

Lingzhi, Ling Chi, Lacquered Bracket, Mannentake, and Mushroom of Immortality

Domain- Eukarya- "Eu" meaning true and "karya" meaning nucleus.

Organisms, including G. lucidum, possess a true nucleus, cytoplasm, and other
membrane bound organelles.

Kingdom- Fungi- includes heterotophic non vascular organisms that have a

chitinous cell wall, reproduce via spore production(sexual and/or asexual),
and from hyphae as the vegetative growth state.

Phylum- Basidiomycota- "Basidio" meaning small pedestal" and "mycota"

meaning fungus. As stated above, the defining feature for this phylum is that
all fungi in this group produce a club shaped reproduction organ called a
basidium. Check out the Wolf-Fart Puffball, another sweet basidiomycota!
Class- Agaricomycetes- includes mainly terrestrial fungi that have a
relationship with wood, mostly decayers but also can be parasites or

symbiotic.

Order- Polyporales- "Poly" meaning many and "porales" meaning pores. This
means that fungi in this order have many openings fruiting bodies. These
fungi that are normally seen as wood rotters in forests.

Family- Ganodermataceae- "Gano" meaning shiny or bright and "derma"

meaning skin. These are saprophytic fungi that feed on wood, but also has
bright or shiny skin covering the fruiting body.

Genus- Ganoderma- "Gano" meaning shiny or bright and "derma" meaning

skin. Includes fungi species that attacks both hardwoods and conifers.
Includes fungi likeGanoderma lucidum but also other fungi like Ganoderma
applanatum.

Species- Ganoderma lucidum- the defining characteristic of this specie that

separates it from others in the Ganoderma genus is that an association with
hardwood trees is necessary. Another thing to note is that G. lucidum has
hyphal walls that are thicker than other species in the same genus.

Translation of the Reishi mushroom scientific name:

Ganoderma-Gano-brightness or sheen and derma-

skin(Greek) lucidum- shining(Latin)
This first phylogenetic tree is more of a general overview of life on Earth. It
takes a look at basic morphology or structure of life on Earth. At the base of
the tree you have the simplest

organisms. This includes

the archaebacteria and the true bacteria. If you were to work your way up to
the left you would run in the simple photosynthetic organisms, the red and
brown alga. The next branch over contains the plants. At the top are the most
complex plants which are the angiosperms and gymnosperms. Located to the
right of the plants is the fungi branch. Towards the base are single celled
yeasts and further up are the more complex forms which will be addressed in
the next tree. One branch over is all about the animals. Once again, at the
base are the simple yeasts and cnidarians. Being the most complex, the
vertebrates are located at the top. The thin branch to the right contains a lot
 of weird forms of life such as the slime molds, amoebas, ciliates and the

dinoflagellates.

The second phylogenetic tree to the left focuses mainly on reproduction and as
well as a few morphological features. Starting at the very bottom, the first
split comes with the prokaryotes and the eukaryotes. This separation is due to
the fact that eukaryotes have a true nucleus while the prokaryotes do not.
Eukaryotic nuclei have all of their genetic material encased within that
organelle. The next division comes with the plants breaking off due to the fact
that they have chloroplasts and the remaining organisms do not. The next
separation comes with the animals and fungi splitting up. Fungi have hyphae
for growth while animals don't have this feature. The remaining divisions are
within the kingdom fungi. G. lucidum belongs to the phylum basidiomycota.
This means that its main form of reproduction is through sexual spores that
get produced externally. No other phyla of fungi reproduces in this same way.

Continue on to Habitat to find out where these mushrooms like to call home.

Ganoderma lucidum Home

 BIO 203
o Home

o Classification

o Habitat

o Adaptations

o Nutrition

o Reproduction

o Interactions

o Medicinal Properties

o Facts

o References

o Contact Me

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Wild vegetables
Lingzhi mushroom

LINGZHI MUSHROOM
 -Comon names: Lingzhi mushroom,

-Scientific name: Ganoderma lucidum (Curtis) P. Karst.

Scientific classification
-Kingdom: Fungi.

-Phylum: Basidiomycota.

-Class: Agaricomycetes.

-Order: Polyporales.

-Family: Ganodermataceae.

-Genus:Ganoderma P. Karst.

-Species: Ganoderma lucidum

-The neighbour species:G. applanatum, G. brownii, G. curtisii, G.

lobatum, G. multipileum, G. orbiforme, G. philippii, G. pseudoferreum, G. tornatum, G.
tsugae, G. zonatum, G. boninense

a-About Genus Ganoderma

+Ganoderma is a genus of polypore mushrooms which grow on wood and include about
80 species, many from tropical regions.

Because of their extensive use in traditional Asian medicines, and their potential
in bioremediation, they are a very important genus economically. Ganoderma can be
differentiated from other polypores because they have a double walled basidiospore. They are
popularly referred to as shelf mushrooms or bracket mushrooms

Ganoderma are characterized by basidiocarps that are large, perennial, woody brackets,
also called "conks". They are lignicolous, leathery, and either with or without a stem. The fruit
bodies typically grow in a fanlike or hooflike form on the trunks of living or dead trees. They
have double-walled, truncate spores with yellow to brown ornamented inner layers.

The name Ganoderma is derived from the Greek ganos/ "brightness, sheen",
hence "shining" and derma/ "skin".

The genus was named by Karsten in 1881. Members of the family Ganodermataceae
were traditionally considered difficult to classify because of the lack of reliable morphological
characteristics, the overabundance of synonyms, and the widespread misuse of names. Until
recently, the genus was divided into two sections Section Ganoderma with a shiny cap surface
(like Ganoderma lucidum) and Elfvingia, with a dull cap surface, like Ganoderma applanatum.

Phylogenetic analysis using DNA sequence information derived

from mitochondrial SSU rDNA, have helped to clarify our understanding of the relationships
amongst Ganoderma species.The genus may now be divided into six monophyletic groups:

-G. colossus group

-G. applanatum group

-G. tsugae group

-Asian G. lucidum group

-G. meredithiae group

-G. resinaceum group

In 1905, American mycologist William Murrill delineated the genus Tomophagus to

accommodate the single species G. colossus (then known as Polyporus colossus) which had
distinctive morphological features that did not fit in with the other species. Historically,
however, Tomophagus has generally been regarded as a synonym forGanoderma. Nearly a
century later, phylogenetic analyses vindicated Murrill's original placement, as it has shown to
be a taxonomically distinct appropriate genus.

Several species of Ganoderma have been used in traditional Asian medicines

(specifically in Korea, Japan and China) for thousands of years. Collectively,
the Ganoderma are being investigated for a variety of potential therapeutic
benefits: anticancer, immunoregulatory, liver-protecting, hypoglycemic , antibacterial , antiviral a
nd antifungal effect; antioxidant activities, reducing blood cholesterol, inhibiting blood vessel
regeneration (angiogenesis, antifibrotic effects, protection against radiation-induced
damage, reducing lower urinary tract symptoms, increasing endurance for vigorous exercise.
 +Notable species:

-Ganoderma applanatum - Also known as the Artist's conch.

-Ganoderma lucidum - Also known as Reishi or Lingzhi

-Ganoderma multipileum - the correct name for G. lucidum in tropical Asia

-Ganoderma philippii - A plant pathogen.

-Ganoderma pseudoferreum - Responsible for the root rot of cacao,

coffee, rubber and tea trees

-Ganoderma tsugae - A polypore which grows on conifers, especially hemlock; thus the
common name, Hemlock varnish shelf. Similar in appearance to Ganoderma lucidum, which
typically grows onhardwoods.

+Industry: Ganoderma are wood-decaying fungi with a cosmopolitan distribution, and

can grow on both coniferous and hardwood species. They are white-rot fungi, and have
enzymes that allow them to break down wood components such as lignin and cellulose. There
has been significant research interest in trying to harness the power of these wood-degrading
enzymes for industrial applications such as biopulping or bioremediation.

b- Lingzhi mushroom
+Some Asian countriesnames

The lingzhi mushroom or reishi mushroom (traditional

Chinese: pinyin: lngzh; Japanese: reishi; Vietnamese: linh chi; literally: "supernatural
mushroom") encompasses several fungal species of the genus Ganoderma, and most
commonly refers to the closely related species, Ganoderma lucidum and Ganoderma
tsugae. G. lucidum enjoys special veneration in East Asia, where it has been used as
a medicinal mushroom in traditional Chinese medicine for more than 2,000 years, making it one
of the oldest mushrooms known to have been used medicinally. Because of lingzhi's presumed
health benefits and apparent absence of side-effects, it has attained a reputation in the East as
the ultimate herbal substance. Lingzhi is listed in the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia and
Therapeutic Compendium.

+Taxonomy and names

Names for the lingzhi fungus have a two thousand year history. The Chinese
term lingzhiwas first recorded in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 CE).

Petter Adolf Karsten named the genus Ganoderma in 1881.

+Botanical names

The lingzhi's botanical names have Greek and Latin roots. The generic
name Ganoderma derives from the Greek ganos "brightness; sheen", hence "shining"
and derma "skin".The specific epithet lucidum is Latin for "shining" and tsugae for"hemlock"
(from Japanese Tsuga ).

There are multiple species of lingzhi, scientifically known to be within the Ganoderma
lucidum species complex and mycologists are still researching the differences among species
within this complex.

+English names

English lingzhi or ling chih (sometimes misspelled "ling chi" from French EFEO Chinese
transcription) is a Chinese loanword.

The Oxford English Dictionary gives Chinese "lng divine + zh fungus" as the origin
ofling chih or lingzhi, and defines, "The fungus Ganoderma lucidum, believed in China to confer
longevity and used as a symbol of this on Chinese ceramic ware.". The OED notes the earliest
recorded usage of theWade-Giles romanization ling chih in 1904, and of the Pinyin lingzhi in
1980. In addition to the transliterated loanword, English names include "glossy ganoderma" and
"shiny polyporus".

Description
Lingzhi is a polypore mushroom that is soft (when fresh), corky, and flat, with a
conspicuous red-varnished, kidney-shaped cap and, depending on specimen age, white to dull
brown pores underneath. It lack sgills on its underside and releases its spores through fine
pores, leading to its morphological classification as a polypore.

Ganoderma lucidum generally occurs in two growth forms, one, found in North America,
is sessile and rather large with only a small or no stalk, while the other is smaller and has a
long, narrow stalk, and is found mainly in the tropics. However, many growth forms exist that are
intermediate to the two types, or even exhibit very unusual morphologies, raising the possibility
that they are separate species. Environmental conditions also play a substantial role in the
different morphological characteristics lingzhi can exhibit. For example, elevated carbon
dioxide levels result in stem elongation in lingzhi. Other forms show "antlers', without a cap and
these may be affected by carbon dioxide levels as well.

Biochemistry
Ganoderma lucidum produces a group of triterpenes, called ganoderic acids, which have
a molecular structure similar to steroid hormones. It also contains other compounds many of
which are typically found in fungal materials including polysaccharides such as beta-
glucan, coumarin, mannitol, and alkaloids.

Habitat
Ganoderma lucidum, and its close relative Ganoderma tsugae, grow in the
northern Eastern Hemlock forests. These two species of bracket fungus have a worldwide
distribution in both tropical and temperate geographical regions, including North and South
America, Africa, Europe, and Asia, growing as a parasite or saprotroph on a wide variety of
trees. Similar species of Ganoderma have been found growing in the Amazon. In nature,
Lingzhi grows at the base and stumps of deciduous trees, especially maple.Only two or three
out of 10,000 such aged trees will have Lingzhi growth, and therefore its wild form is generally
rare. Today, Lingzhi is effectively cultivated both indoors under sterile conditions and outdoors
on either logs or woodchip beds.

History
The Chinese classics first used zhi during the Warring States Period (475-221 BCE)
and lingzhi during the Han Dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE).

The word lingzhi was first recorded in a fu "rhapsody; prose-poem" by the Han
dynasty polymath Zhang Heng (CE 78139).

The (ca. 1st-2nd century CE) Shennong bencao jing "Divine Farmer's Classic of
Pharmaceutics" classifies zhi into six color categories, each of which is believed to benefit
the qi "life force" in a different part of the body:

- qingzhi "green mushroom" for liver,

-chizhi "red mushroom" for heart,

-huangzhi "yellow mushroom" for spleen,

-baizhi "white mushroom" for lung,

-heizhi "black mushroom" for kidney,

-and zizhi "purple mushroom" for essence. Commentators identify this

red chizhi (or danzhi "cinnabar mushroom") as the lingzhi.

Chinese pharmaceutical handbooks on zhi mushrooms were the first illustrated

publications in the history of mycology. The historian of Chinese science Joseph
Needham discussed a no-longer extant Liang Dynasty (502-587) illustrated text called Zhong
Shenzhi "On the Planting and Cultivation of Magic Mushrooms".

The (1444) Ming Dynasty edition Daozang "Daoist canon" contains the Taishang lingbao
zhicao pin "Classifications of the Most High Divine Treasure Mushroom Plant", which
categorizes 127 varieties of zhi. A (1598) Ming reprint includes woodblock pictures.

In Chinese art, the lingzhi symbolizes good health and long life, as depicted in the
imperial Forbidden City and Summer Palace. It was a talisman for good luck in the
traditional culture of China, and the goddess of healing Guanyin is sometimes depicted holding
a lingzhi mushroom.

Research and therapeutic usage

Lingzhi may possess anti-tumor, immunomodulatory and immunotherapeutic activities,
supported by studies on polysaccharides, terpenes, and other bioactive compounds isolated
from fruiting bodies and myceliaof this fungus (reviewed by R. R. Paterson and Lindequist et
al.). It has also been found to inhibit platelet aggregation, and to lower blood pressure (via
inhibition of angiotensin-converting enzyme), cholesterol, and blood sugar.

Laboratory studies have shown anti-neoplastic effects of fungal extracts or isolated

compounds against some types of cancer, including epithelial ovarian cancer. In an animal
model, Ganoderma has been reported to prevent cancer metastasis, with potency comparable
to Lentinan from Shiitake mushrooms.

The mechanisms by which G. lucidum may affect cancer are unknown and they may
target different stages of cancer development: inhibition of angiogenesis (formation of new,
tumor-induced blood vessels, created to supply nutrients to the tumor) mediated
by cytokines, cytoxicity, inhibiting migration of the cancer cells and metastasis, and inducing and
enhancing apoptosis of tumor cells. Nevertheless, G. lucidumextracts are already used in
commercial pharmaceuticals such as MC-S for suppressing cancer cell proliferation and
migration.

Additional studies indicate that ganoderic acid has some protective effects against liver
injury by viruses and other toxic agents in mice, suggesting a potential benefit of this compound
in the treatment of liver diseases in humans, and Ganoderma-derived sterols inhibit lanosterol
14-demethylase activity in the biosynthesis of cholesterol. Ganoderma compounds inhibit 5-
alpha reductase activity in the biosynthesis of dihydrotestosterone.

Besides effects on mammalian physiology, Ganoderma is reported to have anti-bacterial

and anti-viral activities. Ganoderma is reported to exhibit direct anti-viral with the following
viruses; HSV-1, HSV-2, influenza virus, vesicular stomatitis. Ganoderma mushrooms are
reported to exhibit direct anti-microbial properties with the following organisms; Aspergillus
niger, Bacillus cereus, Candida albicans, and Escherichia coli.

References:

1- From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Lingzhi.

2-"The pharmacological potential of mushrooms.". Lindequist, U.; Niedermeyer, T.H.J. ; Jlich,

W.D. (2005).

c ng bi K s H nh Hi vo lc Thursday, March 29, 2012

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1 comment:

1.

Jeffrey ColemanJanuary 6, 2013 at 5:30 PM

You're brave collecting mushrooms and eating them! I guess if you are with other people who
know what they are looking for it might make it better.
 psilocybe cubensis syringe

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