The fungus looks dry but is carnivorous and prey in the most brutal way

On the surface, oyster mushrooms don't seem to be dangerous. It is also an edible fungus. However, hidden behind that gentle look is a wise and most brutal predator in the natural world.

The favorite area of oyster mushroom - also known as the Abalone mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) is the log section or dead wood. However, it does not depend on the poor nutritional sources of these dry stems, but is aimed at a very literal source of other vivid food.

Oyster mushroom.

Spreading mushroom mycelia into the mouth of the prey, "eat" them from the inside out

Right at the foot of the oyster mushroom, on the surface of the wet log is full of microscopic worms, collectively known as nematodes or nematodes (Nematoda) . Although oyster mushroom has a gentle appearance, but in fact, it is an "unkind executioner" with slaughtering nematodes in the same living environment.

As an example, oyster mushrooms grow silk threads with nematode sedative chemicals. The innocent round nematodes thought to go out to find them and were caught by the oyster mushroom. On the filaments of Oyster mushroom there is also a numb toxin. Stick to this poison, the round worms immediately remain motionless.

Silk oyster mushroom catch round worms.

In order to "eat" nematodes, oyster mushrooms thread silk threads into their mouths, then release the protein that has a decomposing effect. In the end, it pointed at the deliberately sipping the prey's body from the inside to the outside.

It is thanks to the fat fat round worms that the new oyster mushroom every day is a " fat " , filled with nitrogen (protein).

Not a normal way of hunting

Originally, mushrooms were one of the familiar foods. For vegetarians, it is quite important because it is a nutritious food. However, since knowing oysters are "carnivorous" species, people also began to question: Is it still suitable for making vegetarian dishes?

But put aside this problem temporarily. The most surprising thing is the protein that oyster mushroom used to digest the roundworm: Pleurotolysin .

"Pleurotolysin is not a normal protein," New Scientist said. "It belongs to a group of water soluble proteins, attacking by membrane perforating."

According to the analysis, the atoms of Pleurotolysin can be joined together like Lego pieces. They bind each of the 13 atoms into a circle of Pleurotolysin molecules.

When a molecular circle forms, it will punch holes through the cell membrane just as we would use a cookie-shaped mold to cut through the dough. But this "mold" is only 8 nanometers wide. And if just one hole is not enough to kill a cell, then other "killer" Pleurotolysin molecules will come again, continuing to attack until it completely kills the cell.

Open hope to destroy nematodes harmful to humanity

Medicine also has a cell-degrading protein similar to Pleurotolysin, Perforin , created by coding the PRF1 ene and Prf1 gene in mice. If precise control is found, it is likely that doctors will make Perforin choose to destroy the disease-causing cells, while ignoring normal cells.

Currently, scientists have not found a way to control Perforin such as the Pleurotolysin autonomous Oyster mushroom.

Only things, it is easy to say, but difficult to do. Currently, medicine only sees the potential, but has not found a way to control Perforin such as the Pleurotolysin autonomous Oyster mushroom.

It is known that more than half of the nematode species have been scientifically detected and described as parasitic worms, including 16,000 / 28,000 species. But the number of 28,000 species is still not the total number of nematodes. According to scientists' estimates, there must be up to 1 million different nematode species. They live everywhere on Earth, parasitic on both animals and plants.

There are millions of unknown roundworms on Earth.