Coprinellus xanthothrix is a species of fungus

Fungus

A fungus is a member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds , as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, Fungi, which is separate from plants, animals, and bacteria...

 in the Psathyrellaceae

Psathyrellaceae

The Psathyrellaceae are a family of dark-spored agarics that generally have rather soft, fragile fruiting bodies, and are characterized by black or dark brown, rarely reddish, or even pastel colored spore prints. About 50% of the species produce fruiting bodies that dissolve into ink-like ooze...

 family. This species was isolated from a polyphenol

Polyphenol

Polyphenols are a structural class of natural, synthetic, and semisynthetic organic chemicals characterized by the presence of large multiples of phenol structural units...

-polluted site near an olive processing plant in Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

. Shown to have the enzymes laccase

Laccase

Laccases are copper-containing oxidase enzymes that are found in many plants, fungi, and microorganisms. The copper is bound in several sites; Type 1, Type 2, and/or Type 3. The ensemble of types 2 and 3 copper is called a trinuclear cluster . Type 1 copper is available to action of solvents,...

 and manganese peroxidase

Manganese peroxidase

In enzymology, a manganese peroxidase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reactionThe 3 substrates of this enzyme are Mn, H+, and H2O2, whereas its two products are Mn and H2O....

, the fungus is able to decolorize the recalcitrant polymeric dye R-478. First described as Coprinus xanthothrix by the French mycologist Henri Romagnesi

Henri Romagnesi

Henri Charles Louis Romagnesi was a French mycologist who was notable for a thorough review and monograph of the agaric genus Entoloma , as well as extensive work on the large genus Russula, of which he described several new species.-References:...

 in 1941, it was later transferred to the genus Coprinellus

Coprinellus

Coprinellus is a genus of mushrooms in the family Psathyrellaceae. The genus was first described by Petter Karsten in 1879.-External links:* at Index Fungorum...

in 2001.