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Abstract
The influence of different factors on amatoxin and phallotoxin composition of Amanita phalloides was studied. The concentration of eight toxins (three amatoxins and five phallotoxins) in six parts of the carpophore, namely, the pileus, lamellae, an- nulus, stipe, volva and bulb was evaluated in an effort to establish a relationship between the type of tissue and its toxin composition. The possible influence of the collection site on the distribution of amatoxins and phallotoxins was investigated by analyzing the tissues of 27 expanded carpophores and 4 buttons harvested from four geologically different soils located in the same region (Franche-Comté, France): Jurassic limestone, siliceous soil, clay with chert and gley-like argillaceous sand. Toxin concentrations were measured by using high-performance liquid chromatography and the data analyzed statistically using hierarchical clustering analysis, principal component analysis and discriminant analysis. Significant differences in the amounts of amatoxins and phallotoxins led to the partition of the tissues into two groups: the bulb and the volva that had the highest phallotoxin concentration and the pileus, lamellae, annulus and stipe that were rich in amatoxins. The bulb and volva of all specimens from each collection site had similar phallotoxin percentage. Nevertheless, the toxin content of these two tissues was different, and among the different parts of the carpophore the bulb was the poorest in toxins. The type of soil also affected toxin distribution, and in particular the phallotoxin relative concentration. Predominance of the acidic phallotoxins over the neutral phallotoxins in all tissues characterized the carpophores collected from the Jurassic limestone. In contrast, the main features of all specimens from siliceous soil and clay with chert were the elevated amounts of neutral phallotoxins (phalloidin and phallisin) leading to a higher percentage of phallotoxins over amatoxins. This study has shown that the tissues of A. phalloides could be characterized by their toxin distribution. Similarities in toxin composition allowed division of the different parts of the carpophore into two groups. Furthermore, this investigation strongly indicates that the collection site significantly influences toxin composition of the carpophore tissues.