Melanogaster is a genus 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...

 that resemble truffles, and are often mistaken for them. However, they do not have the characteristic aroma and value of truffles, and may even be poison

Poison

In the context of biology, poisons are substances that can cause disturbances to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism....

ous. The genus contains 25 species that collectively have a widespread distribution.

A new polyene

Polyene

Polyenes are poly-unsaturated organic compounds that contain one or more sequences of alternating double and single carbon-carbon bonds. These double carbon-carbon bonds interact in a process known as conjugation, which results in an overall lower energy state of the molecule.Organic compounds with...

 pigment

Pigment

A pigment is a material that changes the color of reflected or transmitted light as the result of wavelength-selective absorption. This physical process differs from fluorescence, phosphorescence, and other forms of luminescence, in which a material emits light.Many materials selectively absorb...

, melanocrocin, has been isolated either from fruit bodies or mycelial

Mycelium

thumb|right|Fungal myceliaMycelium is the vegetative part of a fungus, consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. The mass of hyphae is sometimes called shiro, especially within the fairy ring fungi. Fungal colonies composed of mycelia are found in soil and on or within many other...

 cultures of the subterranean fungus Melanogaster broomeianus. The structure of the pigment was determined by spectroscopic methods and chemical transformations. Melanocrocin is the N-acyl derivative of L-phenylalanine

Phenylalanine

Phenylalanine is an α-amino acid with the formula C6H5CH2CHCOOH. This essential amino acid is classified as nonpolar because of the hydrophobic nature of the benzyl side chain. L-Phenylalanine is an electrically neutral amino acid, one of the twenty common amino acids used to biochemically form...

 methyl ester with a polyolefinic carboxylic acid.

Species

• Melanogaster ambiguus
• Melanogaster broomeiani
• Melanogaster variegatus
• Melanogaster tuberiformis
• Melanogaster broomeianus
• Melanogaster wilsonii

External links

• Melanogaster at Index Fungorum
  Index Fungorum
  Index Fungorum, an international project to index all formal names in the Fungi Kingdom. Somewhat comparable to the IPNI, but with more contributing institutions....