''Pycnoporus sanguineus'' is a white rot saprobic fungus. It was discovered on

Guana Island Guana Island is an island of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) in the Caribbean. One of the few remaining privately owned islands in its part of the world, Guana has seven white powder-sand beaches and of tropical forest, mountains, hills, ...

(part of the Virgin Islands) but occurs throughout the tropics and subtropics, usually growing on dead

hardwood Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...

s. It grows in the form of a thin dry conk with a lateral attachment to its

substrate Substrate may refer to: Physical layers *Substrate (biology), the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the surface or medium on which an organism grows or is attached ** Substrate (locomotion), the surface over which an organism lo ...

, or sometimes a very short stipe. The cap is orange-red to orange, lightening to salmon/buff in age. It has concentric zonation, and is finely tomentose to nearly glabrous. The pores on the underside are round, measuring 5-6 per mm with tubes up to 2mm deep. It is inedible due to its tough texture. It is also a tree pathogen infecting species of Platanus and Mangifera.

Description

''Pycnoporus sanguineus'' is used for both industrial and medicinal purposes throughout the world. A pigment extracted from the caps called cinnabarin is used in textile industries for the partial and complete de-colorization of certain dyes. Other industrial uses of this species include testing methods for wood treatment products and enzymes used in bio-remediation for the breakdown of crude oils. Traditional medicinal uses were first utilized by natives in surrounding areas of this species. Medicinal uses of ''P. sanguineus'' help relieve symptoms of the following diseases: arthritis, gout, styptic, sore throats, ulcers, tooth aches, fevers, and hemorrhages. ''P. sanguineus'' also displays numerous anti-bacterial properties against ''E. coli'', ''K. pneumoniae'', ''P. aeruginosa'', ''S. typhi'', and ''S. aureus'' by inhibiting specific metabolic pathways. Currently, ''P. sanguineus'' is being used in medicine for the absorption of certain heavy metals contained within the blood stream.

References

* M. D. Mashitah, Z. Zulfadhfy, S. Bhatla. Ability of Pycnoporus sanguineus to Remove Copper Ions from Aqueous Solution. ''Artificial Cells, Blood Substitutes and Biotechnology'', Jan 1999, Vol. 27, No. 5-6, Pages 429–433. * M. D. Mashitah, Z. Zulfadhly, S. Bhatta. Binding Mechanism of Heavy Metals Biosorption by Pycnoporus sanguineus. ''Artificial Cells, Blood Substitutes and Biotechnology'', Jan 1999, Vol. 27, No. 5-6, Pages 441–445. * Blanchette, R.A. 1988. Resistance of hardwood vessels to degradation by white rot Basidiomycetes. ''Can. J. Bot.'' 66: 1841–1847. Centre for Research in Fungal Diversity, Department of Ecology and Biodiversity, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China. * Mashitah, M. D.; Zulfadhly, Z.; Bhatta, S.. “Binding Mechanism of Heavy Metals Biosorption by Pycnoporus sanguineus” 27.5 (1999). 04 Dec. 2009 http://www.informaworld.com/10.3109/10731199909117717 Polyporaceae Fungal tree pathogens and diseases Mango tree diseases Fungi described in 1763 {{Polyporales-stub

Description

References

Further reading