black fungi energized by ionizing radiation - (Jun/20/2008 )

FEMS Microbiol Lett. 2008 Apr;281(2):109-20. Epub 2008 Feb 13.
Fungi and ionizing radiation from radionuclides.

Ionizing radiation changes the electronic properties of melanin and enhances the growth of melanized fungi.
PLoS ONE. 2007 May 23;2(5):e457.

Both investigations were inspired by the observation of heavy fungal (black fungi) growth within the Cernobyl reactor, authors have concluded that dematiacious (black) fungi obtain energy from ionizing radiation.

Thanks for sharing! I already knew the PLoS paper, but the FEMS paper was new for me. The radionucleotide accumulation of fungi is interesting...some specs. accumulate and accumulate....and even if I am living more than 1500 km away from Chernobyl and the fatal accident was more than 20 years ago, you still should not collect certain fungi in areas where the fallout rain was coming down!
And what is fascinating that some fungi do accumulate Cs and others don't.....but maybe there is a connection with some pigments too?

Fungal melanin has been reported to bind a variety of metals.

gerb - what can you tell us of the scientific work on chernobyl? Casadevall et al. were apparently excited by the dematiaceous fungal growth throughout the facility so someone must be looking into its biology.