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A West Virginia researcher is working at the cutting edge of the study of psychedelics. Corinne Hazel is a West Virginia University microbiology student. This spring, she found a fungus that was barely more than a theory. It produces effects similar to the drug LSD, and might have uses in treating depression, PTSD and addiction. Inside Appalachia Producer Bill Lynch spoke with Hazel and her professor, Dan Panaccione, about the discovery.
Lynch: So, Miss Hazel, when did you become interested in science?
Hazel: Always been kind of interested in science. I grew up outdoors a lot, doing different sports and hiking. I was actually a really big fan of different PBS Kids shows that were science oriented. So, I’ve always had a good interest in science.
Lynch: Tell me about your major and how you got into that.
Hazel: I am an environmental microbiology major. So, I get to take things like plant pathology, mycology – looking at different bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms. I originally came in as an environmental soil and water science major, but I liked that environment microbiology discusses more biology.
Lynch: With this kind of a field of study, what would you hope to do with it?
Hazel: I am planning on a career in research, so going on to get a graduate degree and working in research.
Lynch: Professor. Tell me about your lab and what you were studying there and working on.
Panaccione: Okay, so in my lab, we study a group of chemicals called “ergot alkaloids” that are produced by fungi. These are small chemicals that only exceptional fungi produce, not like your typical fungus, but there are tens of fungi – 20…30 that we know about that can make these chemicals. Often, they make them in association with plants to protect the plant, if the plant is a host of the fungus.
So, we were studying ergot alkaloids in morning glories. And people had known there was a fungus in morning glories that made ergot alkaloids. Those ergot alkaloids are protective of the plants, and those alkaloids can also be used for pharmaceuticals.
We were interested in how the alkaloids moved around the plant and [were] always looking for signs of the fungus, but never seeing it, and never, honestly, really expecting to see it. But then one day, we did encounter it, and we weren’t sure we were right at first, but we began a series of experiments that ultimately led to us finding a new species.
Photo Credit: Greg Ellis/WVU Photo
Lynch: This is almost like a detective story, kind of searching for clues or looking for, you know, little bits and pieces. So, Miss Hazel, tell me a little bit about how you discovered this thing.
Hazel: We had known there was a fungus there because of the ergot alkaloids, so we had some limited DNA sequences. So, when we saw this fungus, we scooped it out of this little seed coat and put it on a petri dish plate to let it grow, and then we extracted DNA from that fungus and compared it to the sequences that we already had. It was similar to the species of fungus that had been described in that genus.
Lynch: So, how exciting is it to find something that is basically the Bigfoot of the fungus world?
Hazel: Super exciting. I mean, you don’t want to get your hopes up too early on, but once you start getting more clues, everything’s pointing that this is it, you just like, “Oh, I’m more motivated to do more experiments and get this published.”
Lynch: Now that you have this thing, what happens to it now?
Hazel: We’ve got it cultured in our lab, it doesn’t make ergot alkaloids in culture, and it doesn’t grow very fast. So, we could look at better culture methods for that.
Another thing is the genes that it uses to produce ergot alkaloids are very efficient – makes a lot of ergot alkaloids. So, the genome sequences that we’ve made are good genetic resources for producing ergot alkaloids and another model organism.
Panaccione: So, the parts of it may be more valuable than the fungus as a whole.
Lynch: How come no one else stumbled across this until now?
Hazel: We have a lot better molecular tools. We got a lot better technology now than we did. A big part, you have to really find this molecularly, because it doesn’t grow outside of the plant. If you didn’t know the chemicals were there, then you wouldn’t think there’s a fungus in this plant.
Panaccione: Even though we know it’s there, when we go back in and dissect out plants, it’s really hard to find. Honestly to visually see it in the plant is very rare, very hard to see.
We know it exists. We know what it looks like when we dig apart plants and tease them apart, it’s hard to see it. We can see it using DNA techniques, and now, of course, Corinne has it growing in a culture, so we can see it there.
Lynch: What happens next with you? I mean, you’ve got a year left in school as your undergrad and professor, you’ve got your lab and your studies to continue. So, where do you go from here?
Hazel: I’m working on writing up the original project that I was actually working on. The reason I was growing morning glories in the first place was for another project based on how they moved the ergot alkaloids throughout the plant and into the area surrounding the roots. So, working on finishing up that project.
Panaccione: I will continue to look for new and interesting fungi that make ergot. This was actually the first fungus, first new species of fungus I have found. I have found fungi that people knew the organism existed, but then I found the ergot alkaloids. That’s an exciting finding for me. This is the first time I have found a brand-new species. So, I will continue to try to learn where the ergot alkaloid fungi live, and how the ergot alkaloids help the fungi and help the plants that the fungi are associated with.