Amanitin is the most powerful poison found in Amanita mushrooms. Its lethal dose is
only 0.1-0.3 mg/kg, meaning that only 10 mg will kill a 100 kg man. Amanitin(alpha-amanitin, to be exact) has an unusually strong and specific
attraction to the enzyme RNA polymerase II, so upon ingestion, the
poison binds to this enzyme, killing
liver cells. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha-amanitin
Amanita phalloides(Death cup) |
Other
reference: Berkow, Robert(editor)The
Merck Manual 16th edition. 1992
Amanita muscaria |
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