Is arsenic responsible for the toxicity of the hyperaccumulating mushroom Sarcosphaera coronaria?

0525563 - ÚJF 2021 RIV NL eng J - Journal Article
Braeuer, S. - Borovička, Jan - Kameník, Jan - Prall, E. - Stijve, T. - Goessler, W.
Is arsenic responsible for the toxicity of the hyperaccumulating mushroom Sarcosphaera coronaria?
Science of the Total Environment. Roč. 736, č. 9 (2020), č. článku 139524. ISSN 0048-9697. E-ISSN 1879-1026
R&D Projects: GA MŠMT LM2015056
Research Infrastructure: Reactors LVR-15 and LR-0 II - 90120
Institutional support: RVO:61389005
Keywords : Crown Cup * ICPMS * Arsenic speciation * poisoning * soil * Methylarsonous acid
OECD category: Environmental sciences (social aspects to be 5.7)
Impact factor: 7.963, year: 2020
Method of publishing: Open access
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139524

The Violet Crown Cup, Sarcosphaera coronaria, is a rather inconspicuous mushroom, but with an interesting and unresolved mystery. In earlier days, the mushroom was considered edible, but several poisonings were reported in the early 20th century. The reason for the seemingly sporadic toxicity of S. coronaria is still unknown. One possible explanation is arsenic, since Crown Cups can take up high amounts of this element. We investigated the arsenic concentration and arsenic speciation in S. coronaria with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) and HPLC coupled to ICPMS and found up to incredible 0.9% As (dry mass). Most of it was present as methylarsonic acid (MA), a less toxic form of this element. However, low concentrations of the highly toxic methylarsonous acid [MA (III)] were also detected. The amounts were too low to pose an acute risk for consumers, but the concentration of MA (III) significantly increased during simulated gastric digestion. We could not unambiguously identify arsenic as the toxic constituent of S. coronaria, but we demonstrated that the extremely toxic MA (III) can be formed under certain circumstances, which should be carefully investigated in future.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0309665