Jonathan Dennis, PhD 🧪🦠

Dog vomit slime mould (Fuligo septica) also known as scrambled egg slime 🥚🍄‍🟫

Hemlock varnish shelf (Ganoderma tsugae) certainly lives up to its name, but is more commonly known as Hemlock reishi.

#fungifriends

I spotted this "edible but not incredible" golden waxy cap mushroom (Hygrocybe flavescens) poking out the ground

Purple disc fungus on the end of a log with crusty orange fungus below.

Purple jelly disc fungus (Ascocoryne sarcoides) and a crust fungus hanging out together.

Sadly, neither fungus tastes of grapes 🍇

#FungiFriends

As the name suggests, the Common Stump Brittlestem (Psathyrella piluliformis) can be identified by its growth at the base of hardwood stumps 🍄

#fungifriends

Even the tiniest mushrooms find their spot.

This Mycena sp. found a gap in the leaves and took it!

#fungifriends

Chemophobia - the fear of chemicals - is a public health crisis Low science literacy and lack of biology, chemistry, and toxicology knowledge exacerbates this global health threat.

Chemophobia, the irrational fear of chemicals, is a public health threat. news.immunologic.org/p/chemophobi...

Mushroom with a cap that looks like a black crumpled horse saddle on a grey stem with long grooved pits all over it.

Western Black Elfin Saddle (Hellvella vespertina) looks very similar to Hellvella dryophila.

H. dryophila tends to grow near oak trees, whereas I saw this H. vespertina growing in a coniferous forest.

#fungifriends

Nice, coral jelly fungus does sound right! It kinda looks like a ground-growing version of C. furcata. I've only spotted it once so far in Stanley Park.

Well spotted!

Fungus that looks like an orange peel growing on the ground.

This orange peel fungus (Aleuria aurantia) certainly lives up to its name!

Other species in the order Pezizales are mycorrhizal or parasitic, but this fungus is saprotrophic, growing on decaying organic matter 🍊🍄

#fungifriends

What do you think, a species of Calocera sp. too?

Gilled mushroom growing out sticks and leaves in the forest, with a darker orange cap, lighter gills and a pale orange stem.

This curry milkcap mushroom bled milky white, indicating a Lactarius species of fungus. It also had a faint curry smell due to the chemical quabalactone III.

Once dried, this chemical converts into sotolon, a molecule also found in fenugreek and maple syrup 🍁

#fungifriends

Coral fungus is notoriously hard to identify so at first I would have said Ramaria sp. but now I'm thinking Clavulina sp #fungifriends

Orange jelly fungus, looks quite gross but cool.

This jelly fungus in the genus Dacromyces aka. orange witch's butter is not closely related to species of "true" witch's butter species in the Tremella genus

Dacromyces grows on dead hardwood and often appears shiny whereas Tremella species are parasitic and have matte surfaces #fungifriends

It's great to see that Japan has joined Horizon Europe after Canada joined earlier this year. These intercontinental partnerships are vital for keeping research open.

Mossy tree trunk with 4 different species of orange, brown and white fungus pictured

I spotted this tree with at least 7 or 8 different species of fungi on it!

Anyone in Vancouver needing some inspiration for this week's Taylor Swift concerts?

@naturechemistry.bsky.social has you covered!

bsky.app/profile/myco...

This month's cover is for the Lovers

The January 2024 cover was giving January 1989

Anyone in Vancouver needing some inspiration for this week's Taylor Swift concerts?

@naturechemistry.bsky.social has you covered!

Bright orange jelly fungus on a log

I spotted this amazing example of Witches' Butter (Tremella mesenterica) while out walking in Stanley Park yesterday. The parasitic fungus feeds on species of wood decay fungus

Taylore swift in a green/blue dress with a pink floral pattern on it.

The March 2020 cover of Nature Chemistry with a circular chemical structure on a pink/red background surrounded by a larger blue/green-ish background

Content over at the other site deleted; but apart from #KanyeOrCronin or #SocialIsolationSocial posts, I think this was my greatest contribution there, so for a bit of Friday fun for #Chemsky, I'm reposting it here:

Taylor Swift as @naturechemistry.bsky.social covers, starting with March 2020:

The RSC Chemical Biology and Bioorganic Group is now on Bluesky and delighted to be here! We're really looking forward to keeping you all updated with the latest events and news from our community, across the UK and internationally. Spread the word to those you know, and give us a follow! #chembio

In the maritime Pacific Northwest, the plentiful winter rains leach nutrients from the soil.

Micronutrients, like Boron and Selenium, dissappear quickly. They are also absolutely necessary for primary and secondary productivity.

These nutrients are brought back by the salmon! Salmon bring life!

I'll wrap up this 🧵with the same question that I pose during any presentation that I give on #BiocompatibleChemistry.

If non-enzymatic catalysts readily catalyse reactions inside cells, is Nature already using biocompatible chemistry??

(Yes! But that's a thread for another day!)

3. Non-enzymatic catalysts can augment enzymes by regenerating co-factors or breaking down toxic by-products. Photocatalysts can also drive metabolism in #Biohybrids, which enable cellular redox processes to be driven by external light or electricity.

2. Non-enzymatic catalysts can function as drop-in replacements for enzymes in metabolic pathways, avoiding potential issues associated with some enzymes (limited substrate/product scope, laborious directed evolution, expression, purification, co-factors etc.)

The chemical spaces accessible via synthetic chemistry and synthetic biology have overlaps, but biocompatible chemistry truly bridges them.

1. Biocompatible chemistry can access new areas of chemical space that are inaccessible using synthetic chemistry or synthetic biology alone.