Polypore

Polypores growing on a tree in Borneo

Polypores are a group of tough, leathery poroid mushrooms similar to boletes, but typically lacking a distinct stalk. The technical distinction between the two types of mushrooms is that polypores do not have the spore-bearing tissue continuous along the entire underside of the mushroom. Many polypores are bracket fungi. The polypore growth form exists in many different evolutionary lines of higher basidiomycetes. Although many polypore species are members of the Polyporales, there are many polypores that belong to other groups as well.

Polypores are often found on rotting logs^[1], and are rot-resistant to the extent that they themselves often last long enough for moss to grow on them. Rot-resistance is due to the mushroom's ability to produce compounds with anti-pathogenic activity.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Genera

Generally, this family includes thirty genera.

• Abundisporus
• Daedaleopsis
• Fibroporia
• Gloeophyllum
• Haploporus
• Laetiporus (example : Laetiporus sulphureus)
• Loweporus
• Panus
• Perenniporia
• Polyporus
• Poria
• Pycnoporus
• Pycnoporellus

Medicinal uses

Owing to their texture, edible polypores are quite common, and there are no poisonous species ^[1]. Some, however, have been used in ritual and for utilitarian purposes for ages; the famous Ötzi the Iceman was found carrying two different polypore species. Piptoporus betulinus was notable for its antibacterial properties. The other, Fomes fomentarius, although also having medicinal properties, was likely used for starting fires.^[7]

Two medicinal mushroom polypores in use today are Ganoderma lucidum (reishi or lingzhi) and Trametes versicolor. Beyond their traditional use in herbal medicine, contemporary research has suggested many applications polypores for the treatment of illnesses related to the immune system and cancer recovery.

In studies published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, some polypore mushrooms have been found to be useful in treating a wide variety of ailments, including bacterial infections, viral infections, cancer, allergies, diabetes mellitus, and neurological problems.^[8]

Gallery

Polypores growing on the trunk of a birch tree	Polypore on a dead Cedar tree	Colorful Trametes versicolor growing on a fallen hardwood log	Polypores growing upon a fallen tree
Tinder Bracket (Fomes fomentarius)

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Polypores
2. ^ Collins RA, Ng TB (1997), "Polysaccharopeptide from Coriolus versicolor has potential for use against human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection", Life Sci 60 (25): PL383–7, doi:10.1016/S0024-3205(97)00294-4, ISSN 0024-3205, PMID 9194694 ^{[dated info]}
3. ^ Moradali MF, Mostafavi H, Hejaroude GA, Tehrani AS, Abbasi M, Ghods S (2006), "Investigation of potential antibacterial properties of methanol extracts from fungus Ganoderma applanatum", Chemotherapy 52 (5): 241–4, doi:10.1159/000094866, ISSN 0009-3157, PMID 16899973 
4. ^ Li Y, Yang Y, Fang L, Zhang Z, Jin J, Zhang K (2006), "Anti-hepatitis activities in the broth of Ganoderma lucidum supplemented with a Chinese herbal medicine", Am J Chin Med 34 (2): 341–9, doi:10.1142/S0192415X06003874, ISSN 0192-415X, PMID 16552843, http://www.worldscinet.com/cgi-bin/jsearchpii.cgi?pii=S0192415X06003874 
5. ^ Wang HX, Ng TB (September 2006), "A laccase from the medicinal mushroom Ganoderma lucidum", Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 72 (3): 508–13, doi:10.1007/s00253-006-0314-9, ISSN 0175-7598, PMID 16636832 
6. ^ Wang H, Ng TB (January 2006), "Ganodermin, an antifungal protein from fruiting bodies of the medicinal mushroom Ganoderma lucidum", Peptides 27 (1): 27–30, doi:10.1016/j.peptides.2005.06.009, ISSN 0196-9781, PMID 16039755 
7. ^ U. PEINTNER, R. PÖDER and T. PÜMPEL (1998). The iceman's fungi. Mycological Research, 102 , pp 1153-1162 doi:10.1017/S0953756298006546
8. ^ eCAM 2005 2(3):285-299; doi:10.1093/ecam/neh107 http://ecam.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/2/3/285