Consider the following statements: How many of the above statements are correct?

Answer: (d) All four

Fungi make a huge range of chemicals — medicines, psychoactive compounds, insect toxins and light-producing luciferins.

Statement by statement

1. ✓ CORRECT Reishi (Ganoderma), Cordyceps and shiitake are used in medicine; penicillin itself comes from a fungus.

2. ✓ CORRECT Psilocybin mushrooms (“magic mushrooms”) alter perception.

3. ✓ CORRECT Some fungi kill insects — Cordyceps parasitises them; others produce insecticidal compounds.

4. ✓ CORRECT Foxfire / ghost mushrooms (Mycena, Omphalotus) glow in the dark; Mycena species were recorded in the Western Ghats.

The idea

A mushroom is the fruiting body of a fungus. Fungi have no chlorophyll, so they cannot make food. They release chemicals to digest food outside the body and absorb it. Living this way, fungi have evolved a very large range of chemicals to feed, defend and compete.

No photosynthesis → Must digest food outside the body → Makes many chemicals → Some heal · some affect the mind · some kill insects · some give off light

Why the others are wrong

(b) Drops the two that sound unusual — insecticidal and glowing mushrooms are both real.

(c) Drops glowing mushrooms, probably because light seems impossible for a fungus.

The trap

Bioluminescence sounds like a trick, but glowing mushrooms were even reported from Goa and Kerala.

Elimination technique

All four statements are plain “some mushrooms have…” claims with no absolute word. Plain claims of this kind are usually true in Environment PYQs, which points to “all four”.

Also know

Light in fungi comes from luciferin reacting with oxygen; the glow is thought to attract insects that carry spores. Penicillin comes from the mould Penicillium. Gucchi (morel) grows wild in Himalayan forests and is not farmed on a large scale (UPSC 2022). Mycorrhiza is the partnership between fungi and plant roots.