Glow in the dark mushrooms

Live Science reports on the discovery of several new species of bio-luminescent fungi, bringing the total up to 71 different flavours of AWESOME. These are not fluorescing under a UV lamp - they really do glow in the dark, giving them the most beautiful name in mycology: Mycena luxaeterna, meaning "eternal light".

Live Science says:

Three quarters of glowing mushrooms, including the newly identified species, belong to the Mycena genus, a group of mushrooms that feed off and decompose organic matter.

"What interests us is that within Mycena, the luminescent species come from 16 different lineages, which suggests that luminescence evolved at a single point and some species later lost the ability to glow," Desjardin said.

He and other scientists still have many questions about such glow-in-the-dark fungi, including how and why they light up. They know the luminescent process is similar to that of glowing bacteria and other luminescent organisms. For instance, the glowing involves a luciferin-luciferase mediated reaction that emits light in the presence of water and oxygen. But they are not sure of the exact chemical compounds involved in the reaction.