''Coprinellus xanthothrix'' is a species of

fungus A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the 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, separately from th ...

in the family

Psathyrellaceae The Psathyrellaceae are a family of dark-spored agarics that generally have rather soft, fragile fruiting bodies, and are characterized by black, dark brown, rarely reddish, or even pastel-colored spore prints. About 50% of species produce fruit ...

. This species was isolated from a

polyphenol Polyphenols () are a large family of naturally occurring organic compounds characterized by multiples of phenol units. They are abundant in plants and structurally diverse. Polyphenols include flavonoids, tannic acid, and ellagitannin, some of ...

-polluted site near an olive processing plant in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. Shown to have the enzymes

laccase Laccases () are multicopper oxidases found in plants, fungi, and bacteria. Laccases oxidize a variety of phenolic substrates, performing one-electron oxidations, leading to crosslinking. For example, laccases play a role in the formation of lign ...

and

manganese peroxidase Manganese is a chemical element with the symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of industrial alloy use ...

, the fungus is able to decolorize the recalcitrant polymeric dye R-478. First described as ''Coprinus xanthothrix'' by the French mycologist Henri Romagnesi in 1941, it was later transferred to the genus ''

Coprinellus ''Coprinellus'' is a genus of mushroom-forming fungi in the family Psathyrellaceae. The genus was circumscribed by the Finnish mycologist Petter Adolf Karsten in 1879. Most ''Coprinellus'' species were transferred from the once large genus ''Copr ...

'' in 2001.

References

xanthothrix ''Xanthothrix'' is a genus of moths of the family Noctuidae The Noctuidae, commonly known as owlet moths, cutworms or armyworms, are a family of moths. They are considered the most controversial family in the superfamily Noctuoidea because ma ...

Fungi described in 1941 {{Psathyrellaceae-stub