A Winter-time Orange

Yellow Brain Fungus, Tremella mesenterica

Trees denuned of their leaves can make for many a forlorn vista at this time of the year, but they do provide the opportunity to spot some strange fruit indeed. Arboreal fungi that would otherwise remain obscured are quite visible among the bare branches. One of the most obvious is the shocking-orange coloured Yellow Brain Fungus (Tremella mesenterica). For all the world looking like somebodies discarded worryingly luminous bubblegum, T. mesenterica is (like all members of the Tremella genus) an obligate parasite of other fungi. In Ireland it is most commonly encountered on Gorse (Ulex spp.), where its host is most commonly found growing, fungi of the genus Peniophora. Indeed, T. mesenterica is often found growing on the upper part of a Gorse branch with the Peniophora species producing fruiting bodies on the underneath of the branch (1).

Yellow Brain Fungus, Tremella mesenterica

T. mensenterica's almost cartoonish colour belies an organism that has shown itself to have a number of surprising and useful applications. For example, fruiting bodies of the fungus fed to rats with diabetes have been shown to have a significant effect on the disorder (2). It also posses extracellular polysaccharides that have been shown to have immunomodulatory properties and thus may have potential in anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory treatments (3). Specifically, it has been shown to surpress the production of hormones (human chorionic gonadotropin) associated with tumor cells and therefore may have a role in the chemotherapeutic treatment of certain forms of cancer in the future (4).

References:

1. Roberts, 1995. Mycologist 9 pp. 110-114
2. Hui-Chen et al., 2006. Life Sciences 78 pp. 1957-1966
3. Nan-Yin et al., 2006. Food Chemistry 99 pp. 92-97
4. Yen-Wen et al., 2006. Life Sciences 79 pp. 584-590