I found this fairly interesting.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,276196,00.html

Basically it explains that a black fungi was found growing on the walls of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. It is believed, although not yet proven, that the fungus can "eat" radiation, and can apparently harness the energy from harmful radioactive material.

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Hmm... I knew at least some mushrooms are carcinogenic. I wonder if there's some connection there with the whole melanin-radiation-fungus-carcinogen thing?
Does that mean no?

 

Hank, are you confusing ionizing radiation (The type in nuclear reactors) with non-ionizing radiation (The type in your microwave)? Ionizing radiation damages DNA due to radiated particles passing through the nucleus of the cell and knocking molecules out of the DNA chain. Microwaves, and other non-ionizing radiation, just heat up the cells and don't cause mutations in the DNA. Carcinogens can also be chemical based due to the chemicals damaging DNA and causing mutations.

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I was just thinking:
- (some) radiation is carcinogenic
- (some) mushrooms are carcinogenic
- mushrooms are fungus
- some fungus eats radiation
- is there a connection between the carcinogenic radiation some fungi eat and the carcinogens they contain?

 

No, I think the carcinogenic mushrooms found in nature are carcinogenic because of the chemicals they contain. They aren't radioactive. The ones at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant may have a little of both.
I guess you could compare it to sunlight which is a form of radiation that can cause cancer (melanoma), and lettuce that thrives in sunlight. It's a bit of an oversimplification, but lettuce won't give you melanoma.
It seems like the black fungi at Chernobyl have adapted to the radiation and are able to harness the energy from it to grow without being killed by it. The fungi would be radioactive, not because they harness the energy, but because they are in proximity to it just like the buildings and every other object in the area.

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That is an interesting finding. Microorganisms seem able to adapt to almost anything, from very high temperatures, like Thermophilus, to jet fuel (Ps. fluorescens), and now to ionizing radiation.

Background: Cladosporium sphaerospermum is one of the most common fungi seen as contaminants in cultures. It is very widespread and weakly pathogenic (disease causing). It belongs to a group called the dematiaceous fungi. That name derives from the pigment they make.

Although the finding is novel, the implication could be serious. (I didn't read the full scientific release.) The fungus may be able to derive energy from the radiation, but as pointed out in the article, it does not destroy the radio-isotopes. In other words, it doesn't change the physics. Fungi produce spores, which spread easily and far in the air. That explains why they are found virtually everywhere and are such common contaminants in laboratory cultures. Now, if the fungus incorporates the radio-isotope as part of deriving energy from the radiation, you would expect its spores to do so likewise, and that would lead to spread of the radioactive products. John

 

I wouldn't panic though.

I would guess that the mushroom only grows in areas which aren't highly radioactive and the effective radiation leak caused by them isn't bad enough to cause any problems.

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Cladosporium is not a mushroom. John

 

I Think what he ment to say is fungi rather then mushrooms :-)

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