Domestication… constrained genetic diversity in magic mushrooms relative to naturalized populations
According to a study published… in the journal Current Biology, commercially cultivated varieties (or cultivars) of psilocybin mushrooms like Psilocybe cubensis aren’t as genetically diverse as their naturally grown counterparts and show signs of inbreeding. This finding was based on a genomic analysis of 38 different Psilocybe cubensis found growing in the Australian wild compared to 86 commercially available cultivars.
…understanding how Psilocybe cubensis’s domestication changed its genetic diversity. McTaggart’s team compared the genomes of these wild Psilocybe cubensis to five commercial cultivars: Blue Magnolia, Golden Teacher, Malabar, Luminous Lucy, and Penis Envy… this analysis revealed that domesticated strains were very closely related to one another and lacked genetic diversity similar to distant cousins… the degree of inbreeding and intercrossing among these cultivars is untested, as is the extent to which genetic differences among cultivars impact the production of psilocybin and its analogs… these related genetics likely originate from the same source and/or inbreeding, whether among members of its family or a fungus with itself (called self-fertilization or selfing)…
Original Article (Inverse & Current Biology):
Domestication dramatically altered magic mushrooms’ genetics, new study finds & Domestication through clandestine cultivation constrained genetic diversity in magic mushrooms relative to naturalized populations
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