The "dark magic mushroom" co-produces amatoxins and psilocybin.

Galerina indica is shown to co-produce psilocybin and amatoxins, with mass spectrometry detecting both compound classes in its mushroom tissues.

• Why it matters: Psilocybin and amatoxins are known from different fungal lineages, but co-occurrence within one species had not been demonstrated.
• What they did: The team used mass spectrometry to detect psilocybin and amatoxins in tissues, then used genomic analyses to find matching biosynthetic genes.
• The result: Phylogenetic analyses suggest G. indica acquired psilocybin biosynthesis via horizontal gene transfer after amatoxin biosynthesis was established, implying gene transfer can combine bioactive systems in one species.

AI summary of the abstract · may contain errors · not medical advice · read the paper.