Amanita phalloides

Amanita phalloides, the death cap, is a deadly mushroom native to Europe and now established in many other regions. Its amatoxins can cause fatal liver and kidney failure.

Amatoxin: A group of bicyclic peptides that inhibit RNA polymerase II and can cause fatal liver injury. Amatoxins are the death cap’s principal lethal compounds.
Mushroom identification: The practice of determining a mushroom’s identity from its physical features, habitat, and other evidence. Accurate identification can distinguish death caps from edible lookalikes before consumption.
Europe: A continent extending west from Asia and bordered by the Arctic and Atlantic oceans and the Mediterranean Sea. The death cap is native to Europe, where its biology and historical range were first documented.
Death cap: The common English name for Amanita phalloides, a highly poisonous mushroom. This familiar name highlights the species’ lethal reputation.
RNA polymerase II: An enzyme complex that synthesizes messenger RNA from DNA templates in eukaryotic cells. Amatoxins block this enzyme, disrupting protein production in vulnerable tissues.
Amanita bisporigera: A North American death cap species that contains amatoxins and can cause fatal poisoning. This related species is another deadly Amanita, but is distinct from A. phalloides.
Giovanni Antonio Scopoli: An eighteenth-century Italian physician and naturalist who described many European species. Scopoli published the species’ original description in 1772.
Amanita caesarea: An edible Amanita species with an orange cap, native to parts of Europe and North Africa. Its edible status and contrasting appearance matter when distinguishing it from the death cap.
Hepatic failure: A severe loss of liver function that prevents the organ from maintaining essential physiological processes. Liver failure is a major cause of death after severe death-cap poisoning.
Galerina marginata: A small brown mushroom containing amatoxins, often found growing on wood. It shares the death cap’s lethal toxin class despite belonging to a different genus.

Linked from 5 pages