Does the chemistry of fungal pigments demand the existence of photoactivated defense strategies in basidiomycetes?
Personally, I strongly believe it does!
I am particularly interested in the yellow stainer (Agaricus xanthoderma), which secretes a yellow compound when it is cut. This yellow compound is an azobenzene derivative (4,4′-dihydroxyazobenzene), and it is the only known natural azobenzene!
It is actually a very curious thing. Azobenzenes are very studied in the field of photochemistry because they are used as photoswitches, but no one has studied (as far as I can tell) why this mushroom makes an azobenzene… Phototoxicity, perhaps??
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