Torda Varga

📝We’ve finished the first draft of our Ganoderma lucidum “origin” article: “A historical specimen of False Lingzhi (Ganoderma lucidum) resolves a 245-year-old confusion within an important medicinal mushroom group.” www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

🗺️Furthermore, we detected two geographic subclades within G. lucidum: a western lineage and an East Asian lineage, which could suggest cryptic speciation. We also found a Bolivian environmental sequence, possibly indicating human-mediated introduction to South America, similar to North America.

Our latest preprint asks: Do mushrooms have “real” tissues, and how do they regulate tissue development? We found that a sex pheromone–receptor system originally involved in mating compatibility has been co-opted to regulate tissue development. 🍄https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-10877730/v1

Working with the model mushroom Coprinopsis cinerea, we combined laser-capture microdissection with low-input RNA-seq, CRISPR-edited knockout mutants, and comparative genomics to uncover the molecular basis and evolution of this developmental system.🔬🧬

📝We’ve finished the first draft of our Ganoderma lucidum “origin” article: “A historical specimen of False Lingzhi (Ganoderma lucidum) resolves a 245-year-old confusion within an important medicinal mushroom group.” www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

🔍Because of all this, we propose the common name “False Lingzhi” for G. lucidum to clearly distinguish it from G. lingzhi, supporting accurate identification, safer product development, and reliable research.

📝We’ve finished the first draft of our Ganoderma lucidum “origin” article: “A historical specimen of False Lingzhi (Ganoderma lucidum) resolves a 245-year-old confusion within an important medicinal mushroom group.” www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

🗺️Furthermore, we detected two geographic subclades within G. lucidum: a western lineage and an East Asian lineage, which could suggest cryptic speciation. We also found a Bolivian environmental sequence, possibly indicating human-mediated introduction to South America, similar to North America.

📝We’ve finished the first draft of our Ganoderma lucidum “origin” article: “A historical specimen of False Lingzhi (Ganoderma lucidum) resolves a 245-year-old confusion within an important medicinal mushroom group.” www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

⌛Then, we identified a historical specimen that closely matches the original 1781 description. Using this reference, we showed that Lingzhi diverged from G. lucidum at least 12 million years ago, and multi-gene phylogenetic analyses clearly separate G. lucidum from related species.

📝We’ve finished the first draft of our Ganoderma lucidum “origin” article: “A historical specimen of False Lingzhi (Ganoderma lucidum) resolves a 245-year-old confusion within an important medicinal mushroom group.” www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

⚕️Meanwhile, a very similar species — G. lingzhi (“Lingzhi” or “Reishi”) — has been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for thousands of years. Modern studies have shown anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and other bioactive effects.

📝We’ve finished the first draft of our Ganoderma lucidum “origin” article: “A historical specimen of False Lingzhi (Ganoderma lucidum) resolves a 245-year-old confusion within an important medicinal mushroom group.” www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

👨‍🎓I took this photo in 2007 while studying fungal diversity in a local forest in Hungary as a high school student. I never imagined I would end up co-authoring a paper on this enigmatic mushroom nearly 20 years later. Preprint feedback welcome!