Oyster Mushroom Venom Kills Roundworms–So the Mushrooms Can Feast
Oyster mushrooms feature in cuisines around the world, but they should be off the menu for hungry worms—which these delicious fungi kill and devour with abandon. Now researchers finally know how they do it.
A study published in Science Advances details how oyster mushrooms use a particular toxin to paralyze and knock off fungus-eating roundworms called nematodes. The fungi, which grow on nutrient-poor rotting wood, then consume the nitrogen-rich worms.
“Nematodes happen to be the most abundant animals these fungi…