摘譯自2007年5月23日ENS美國,紐約報導;楊璧如編譯;莫聞審校

 美國愛因斯坦醫學院的研究人員發現,真菌能利用輻射作為能量來源,以製造食物及促進生長。這項發現可能將促使科學家重新估算地球的能源存量。科學家並且表示,真菌能夠生活在輻射中,對於我們探索外太空是有助益的。

 愛因斯坦醫學院核子醫學暨微生物及免疫學助理教授達達切瓦(Ekaterina Dadachova)博士說:「游離輻射在外太空是十分常見的,在長期的任務或是在其他星球定居時,太空人或許能夠依賴真菌當作無窮盡的食物來源。」他同時也是這項研究的主持人。

 這個研究是5年前由微生物及免疫系主任卡沙德瓦博士在網路上讀到一篇文章,是有關機器人被送入車諾比仍具有高輻射的故障反應爐,機器人從反應爐帶回的樣本中,有生長在反應爐壁上富含黑色素的黑色真菌。

 這些真菌要能夠「吃」輻射,必須具有黑色素。這種色素在許多真菌中可以看到,但黑色素在真菌中扮演的生理角色至今仍是團謎,如果它有功能的話。

 「我發現這非常的有趣,開始跟同事們討論這些真菌是否可能用輻射來當作能量來源。」卡沙德瓦博士(Arturo Casadevall)說。這些研究持續顯示,游離幅射會顯著地增進這些含有黑色素真菌的生長。

 達達切瓦博士說:「正如同光合色素會將陽光轉換成化學能,使綠色植物存活及生長一般,我們的研究顯示黑色素能利用電磁光譜不同的部份,也就是游離輻射,來使得具有黑色素的真菌獲益。」這篇研究現在發表在 PLoS ONE 網站:http://www.plosone.org/doi/pone.0000457

 Radiation-Eating Fungi Found | BRONX, New York, May 23, 2007 (ENS)

 Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine have discovered that fungi that have the ability to use radioactivity as an energy source for making food and spurring their growth. The finding could trigger recalculation of Earth's energy balance and the scientists say the ability of fungi to live off radiation could prove useful to venturing into outer space.

 "Since ionizing radiation is prevalent in outer space, astronauts might be able to rely on fungi as an inexhaustible food source on long missions or for colonizing other planets," says Dr. Ekaterina Dadachova, associate professor of nuclear medicine and microbiology and immunology at Einstein and lead author of the study.

 The research began five years ago when Dr. Arturo Casadevall, chair of microbiology and immunology at Einstein, read on the Internet that a robot sent into the still highly radioactive damaged reactor at Chernobyl had returned with samples of black, fungi rich in melanin that were growing on the reactor's walls.

 Those fungi that are able to "eat" radiation must possess melanin, the pigment found in many if not most fungal species. But up until now, melanin's biological role in fungi, if any, has been a mystery.

 "I found that very interesting and began discussing with colleagues whether these fungi might be using the radiation emissions as an energy source," says Dr. Arturo Casadevall. The studies consistently showed that ionizing radiation significantly enhances the growth of fungi that contain melanin.

 "Just as the pigment chlorophyll converts sunlight into chemical energy that allows green plants to live and grow, our research suggests that melanin can use a different portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, ionizing radiation, to benefit the fungi containing it," says Dr. Dadachova. The study is online at the PLoS ONE website: http://www.plosone.org/doi/pone.0000457


 全文及圖片詳見 ENS報導


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 我想起太湖藍藻污染的新聞,人類真的很擅長解決問題。我十分敬畏科學的力量。








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