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A high-quality genome assembly of angel-wing mushroom Pleurocybella porrigens that causes acute encephalopathy

Summary

Scientists created a detailed genetic blueprint of the angel-wing mushroom, which caused serious poisonings in Japan. They identified three toxic compounds in the mushroom and found a gene that likely produces one of the most dangerous toxins responsible for brain damage. This research helps explain how the mushroom makes its poison and could lead to better understanding of foodborne illness prevention.

Background

Pleurocybella porrigens (angel-wing mushroom) caused 59 cases of food poisoning in Japan in 2004, resulting in 17 fatalities due to acute encephalopathy. Three toxic components have been identified: a lectin (PPL), pleurocybelline (PC), and pleurocybellaziridine (PA). The biosynthetic pathway of PA in Basidiomycetes species has not previously been reported.

Objective

To generate a high-quality genome assembly of P. porrigens using long-read PacBio Revio sequencing and to elucidate the biological functions and biosynthetic pathway of pleurocybellaziridine, the compound responsible for acute encephalopathy.

Results

The refined genome assembly contained 63 contigs with N50 length of 4.8 Mbp and 54.0 Mbp total nucleotides. De novo assembly identified 28,655 transcripts and 1,352 CAZyme-encoding genes. A gene (MSTRG.1696) with Fe/αKG oxygenase activity similar to TqaL was identified as a candidate PA biosynthetic enzyme, with active site architecture nearly identical to TqaL based on AlphaFold3 modeling.

Conclusion

This study provides a high-quality genomic and transcriptomic resource for P. porrigens and identifies MSTRG.1696 as a candidate PA biosynthetic enzyme. Although PA biosynthesis remains a working hypothesis, this work establishes an essential genomic framework for future mechanistic studies and functional validation in Basidiomycetes.
  • Published in:AMB Express,
  • Study Type:Genomic Analysis Study,
  • Source: PMID: 41385033, DOI: 10.1186/s13568-025-01995-2
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