Seven new species of 'glow' mushrooms discovered

New York, Scientists at an American University reported seven new species of illuminated mushrooms which emit a lemon green light which makes them glow during the dark.

The new finding will increase the number of such species from 64 to 71, researchers reported today.

"It's pretty unusual to find this many luminescent species, typically only two to five per cent of the species we collect in the field glow,"Dennis Desjardin, the lead researcher said.

"I'm certain there are more out there." Reported in the journal Mycologia, the findings shed light on the evolution of glow-in-the-dark property - known as luminescence - of the species belonging to fungi family.

Scientists from San Francisco State University discovered these species in Belize, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Japan, Malaysia and Puerto Rico.

More than 75 per cent of the glowing mushrooms across the globe are of Mycena genus and feed off and decompose organic matter using it as nutrients for their survival. The glowing property, scientists say, attracts nocturnal animals who spread their seeds across forests.

"What interests us is that within Mycena, the luminescent species come from 16 different lineages, which suggests that luminescence evolved at a single point and some species later lost the ability to glow," said Desjardin.