TRAMETES VERSICOLOR: CHARACTERISTICS, REPRODUCTION, PROPERTIES - BIOLOGY - 2025

Trametes versicolor, or turkey tail, is a Basidiomycota fungus belonging to the Polyporales order, characterized by being sessile, having a semicircular or fan shape and by presenting the upper surface of the hispid (pilose) basidiocarp in young specimens and glabrous when they age, with areas concentric of different colors.

This fungus is saprophytic and plays an important role in the decomposition of deciduous tree trunks, producing white rot of wood. It is a cosmopolitan species, with a wide distribution in the tropics and temperate regions of the world. It can be associated with about 300 different plant species.

Trametes versicolor. Taken and edited from: Jerzy Opioła.

The life cycle of this fungus is similar to that of other agaricomycetes with the predominance of a dikaryotic stage, and a very short diploid stage that occurs just before the formation of haploid spores.

The turkey tail mushroom is probably the species of medicinal mushroom to which researchers have paid the most attention. It produces various bioactive compounds, such as the polysaccharide Krestin (PSK) and the polysaccharide peptide or PSP, both with recognized anti-tumor properties.

characteristics

Trametes versicolor is a trimitic fungus, that is, it has a fruiting body composed of generative, connective and skeletal hyphae.

One of the fundamental characteristics of this fungus is its coloring pattern that appears in the form of several concentric rings with different shades of brown, brown and reddish until reaching white, which can sometimes present iridescence and which give rise to the specific epithet (versicolor) of your name.

The appearance of its upper surface is velvety and has small hairs (trichomes) in its early stages, which are later lost. As in all Polyporales fungi, the ventral surface of the basidiocarp is porous because the hymenium is formed by short tubes that open to the outside through small pores.

The density of pores in the hymenium can vary between 2 and 5 per millimeter and these are circular in their early stages and can become more angular in older organisms. The color of the hymenium ranges from white in young organisms to cream in older ones.

The foot is very short or non-existent, while the fruiting body reaches about 10 centimeters in diameter and only a few millimeters thick (1-3 mm), it generally has a semicircular or fan shape and several fruiting bodies grow together, in an imbricate manner.

The spores are haploid, cylindrical or slightly kidney-shaped, with a maximum size of 7 by 2 microns and thin-walled, which, when ripe, emerge through the pores of the hymenium.

Habitat and distribution

The turkey tail fungus grows on decaying tree trunks, it also grows on living trees. It can grow and develop at any time of the year.

It belongs to a genus of cosmopolitan fungi present in practically all forest ecosystems, both in tropical, temperate, and even boreal areas. Trametes versicolor is one of the most common species of fungi in subtropical forests around the world, mainly in the northern hemisphere.

Taxonomy

The turkey tail fungi belong to the Polyporeaceae family, of the order Polyporales, class Agaricomycetes. The taxonomy of the family is quite complex and has been the subject of many controversies.

The genus Trametes was first described by Linnaeus, but in a very broad way and was later circumscribed by the Swedish mycologist, founder of modern fungal taxonomy, Elias Magnus Fries in 1836. The type species of the genus is Trametes suaveolens.

Later, Corner (1989) proposes a modification of the concept of genre, synonymising under it 15 other genres of Polyporales. Due to these and other modifications, there are more than 800 species of fungi that belong or have belonged at some time to this genus.

Currently about 50 species are recognized, of which 18 have been reported for North America, 9 for Europe and the rest for the Neotropical areas. The name Trametes versicolor, for its part, was coined by Curtis Gates Lloyd in 1920 and also has an extensive synonymy.

Among the synonyms of this species, the most common are Coriolus versicolor and Polyporus versicolor, which even today are used by some researchers.

Trametes versicolor - also known as Coriolus versicolor and Polyporus versicolor, Hesse, Germany. Taken and edited from: Norbert Nagel.

Reproduction and life cycle

The sexual reproduction of the turkey tail fungus is of the heterothalic type. The germination of a haploid basidiospore produces a hypha, also haploid, that will fuse with another compatible thallus to produce a dikaryote or organism that has cells with two haploid nuclei.

Most of the life cycle of the fungus passes in the form of a dicariont, when it develops the fruiting body. This will present many small tubes in the hymenium, inside which are the basidia.

In the basidia, karyogamy will occur, which is the fusion of the two haploid nuclei of the cells of the dicarion, to form a short-lived zygote. Subsequently, a reductional division (meiosis) occurs and haploid basidiospores are produced.

These basidiospores are hyaline and cylindrical, straight or slightly curved, and their cell walls are thin. Once mature, these spores will be released through the pores at the distal ends of the tubes that make up the hymenium and will be dispersed by the wind to start a new cycle.

Nutrition

Trametes versicolor is a saprophytic fungus, that is, it feeds on dead organic matter. It produces the enzyme lignin peroxidase which allows it to degrade lignin at a faster rate than cellulose. It plays an important role in the degradation of plant material in the areas where it lives.

It can also grow on the trunk of living trees on which it seems to act as a facultative parasite, being repeatedly identified as the causative agent of the disease known as heart rot, present in various plant species.

Laccase is another bioactive produced by Trametes versicolor that helps in the degradation of lignin and also allows the elimination of toxic phenols that are produced during this process, this bioactive is an organic catalyst belonging to the group of blue copper oxidases.

Health properties

The turkey tail mushroom has a long history of uses in traditional medicine, being attributed antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, antitumor, anticancer, antioxidant, immune system regulator and protective action of the pancreas, liver and kidneys, among many others.

Among the bioactive compounds produced by Trametes versicolor are:

PSK

Krestin polysaccharide is a polysaccharide that is bound to proteins and that, in addition to stimulating the immune system, has anticancer properties that have been scientifically proven. This compound is approved by the Japanese government for use in cancer therapies.

The anticancer medicinal properties of this compound have been proven in both in vitro and in vivo tests in animals and humans. It can reduce the development of cancer caused by mutagens, radiation, and even that produced spontaneously.

It has a beneficial effect in combined therapies for the treatment of various types of cancer, including those of the digestive tract (stomach, esophagus, rectal colon) also in breast and lung cancer. Additionally it helps to minimize the adverse effects of chemotherapy.

In preliminary trials with patients with acute leukemia, cancer of the liver or nasopharynx, among others, the results show higher survival rates. However, in the case of breast cancer, the results appear to be contradictory.

Additionally, PSK has been suggested as a candidate for cancer chemoprevention due to its effects on cancer cells, since it has almost no side effects and its application in daily doses for long periods of time is safe.

PSP

Polysaccharide peptide (PSP) is another polysaccharide produced by Trametes versicolor that exhibits immune system modulating activity and anticancer properties. Chinese researchers isolated this compound for the first time in 1983. PSP is soluble only in hot water and is insoluble in pyridine, chloroform, benzene, and hexane.

Physicians have used PSP successfully in the treatment of infectious diseases and various types of cancer, and it has no known or significant adverse side effects.

Its application in pregnant women is not recommended because its possible effects on the embryo are still unknown, however, in tests with mice it has been shown that it does not affect the production of steroids by the ovary, ovulation, gestation, or embryonic development.

This polysaccharide has been shown to possess analgesic activities after its intraperitoneal administration, also in laboratory tests with mice.

Tramesan

Scientists recently isolated a branched glycan, named Tramesan, from Trametes versic odor. Trametes versic odor secretes this compound into the environment, which has pro-antioxidant properties in tests carried out on different organisms, such as plants and fungi, and even in tests with different human cell lines.

Ethanolic extracts and their fractions

Several compounds produced by the turkey tail fungus possess pro-antioxidant activity, such as tramesan. In laboratory tests with rats, ethanolic extracts and fractions (ethyl acetate and hexane), reduce oxidative stress and prevent acute liver damage caused by carbon tetrachloride.

Trametes versicolor. Taken and edited from: Jerzy Opioła.

Other uses

Laccase is an enzyme with bioremediation properties against different types of xenobiotics, including polychlorinated biphenyl, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and to degrade synthetic polymers.

Researchers have also used the laccase produced by Trametes versicolor to produce high performance cellulose pulp allowing significant energy savings in the process.

References

1. JM-F. Wan (2013). Polysaccaride Krestin (PSK) and Polysaccharopeptide PSP. In Handbook of Biologically Active Peptides, 2 ^nd Edition.
2. A. Justo & DS Hibbett (2011). Phylogenetic classification of Trametes (Basidiomycota, Polyporales) based on a five-marker dataset. Taxon.
3. Trametes versicolor (L.) Lloyd. Recovered from asturnatura.com.
4. M. Scarpari, M. Reverberi, A. Parroni, V. Scala, C. Fanelli, C. Pietricola, S. Zjalic, V. Maresca, A. Tafuri, MR Ricciardi, R. Licchetta, S. Mirabilii, A. Sveronis, P. Cescutti & R. Rizzo (2017). Tramesan, a novel polysaccharide from Trametes versicolor. Structural characterization and biological effects. Recovered from journals.plos.org.
5. Turkey Tail Fungus. Recovered from macalester.org.
6. Trametes. In Wikipedia, Recovered from en.wikipedia.org.
7. Trametes versicolor. In Wikipedia, Recovered from en.wikipedia.org.