Amanita bisporigera is a fungus that produces a deadly poisonous mushroom commonly known as the destroying angel, a name it shares with three other lethal white Amanita species. It is found on the ground in mixed coniferous and deciduous forests of Eastern North America, and rarely in western North America and Colombia. It has a smooth white cap that can reach up to 10 cm (3.9 in) across with crowded white gills, and a stalk up to 14 cm (5.5 in) long with a delicate white skirt-like ring near the top. The bulbous base is covered with a membranous sac-like volva. First described in 1906, A. bisporigera typically bears two spores on the basidia, as the species name suggests. The mushroom produces amatoxins, which inhibit a vital enzyme when eaten, RNA polymerase II. The first symptoms of poisoning appear 6 to 24 hours after consumption, followed by a period of apparent improvement, then by progressive liver and kidney failure, and death after four days or more. The DNA of A. bisporigera has been partially sequenced, and the genes responsible for the production of amatoxins have been determined. (Full article...)
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