Subject: KOMBUCHA/YOHIMBE INFO REQUEST

From: [email-masked] (Ruth Frey)
Date: 29 Aug 1995 23:55:03 GMT

Greetings.  I've just come into possession of a little
critter usually referred to as a kombucha mushroom.  However,
the guy I got it from called it a "yohimbe mushroom", which
really confused me, since I thought yohimbe was a type of plant
bark taken as a tonic.  Other than the basic culturing conditions
I know nothing about this organism, and I have a long list of
questions about it.  Anybody who feels like answering them can
email me -- I don't get on the newsgroups very often these days.
Anyway:

	1) What *is* the proper common name for these things --
"kombucha" or "yohimbe"?

	2) Does anybody know what *type* of organism this is?
I'm betting it's bacterial rather than fungal.

	3) In connection with the above, does anybody know the
scientific name (or even genus) for these?

	4) What about drinking the solution these guys grow in?
Is it actually beneficial, or is it potentially toxic?  I've
heard both extremes.  Anybody done a chamical analysis yet?

	5) Where did these things originate?  I've heard China
and Mongolia both given as origin sites.

	6) What's the deal with not allowing metal to touch
the "mushrooms" or their solution?  Is the metal toxic to them,
or does it cause them to create a toxic substance in the solution
people drink?

	7) Has anybody thought of using these "mushrooms" as
developmental systems, similar to the _Dictyostelium_ slime
mold?  The periodic formation of a "baby" from the parent "mushroom"
imples a complex set of controls, especially if the "mushroom"
is bacterial/prokaryotic.  My advisor (a developmental botanist)
is particularly interested in this latter question, as am I.

	Any information on these or other, related topics is
welcome.  Thanks for your time!

		Ruth