Earticle

A total of 35 phosphate solubilizing bacterial strains were isolated from waste mushroom bed of Agaricus bisporus in Buyeo-Gun, Chungnam and screened for the production of indole acetic acid (IAA). The best IAA producing strain was identified as Pantoea rodasii using 16S rRNA analysis. In addition to the IAA production, this strain could act as an efficient phosphate solubilizer (1100 μg ml-1 after 5 days of incubation) also. The selected strain was cultured under different conditions in order to assess the optimum conditions for maximum IAA production. The nutrient broth (NB) medium was recorded as the best medium, where the maximum IAA production (229 μg ml-1) was recorded at the start of stationary phase (12 hours after inoculation) of the bacteria growth. The performance of the strain was found to be maximum at the temperature of 30oC followed by 25oC. IAA production was found to be increased with increasing tryptophan concentration (from 0.1 to 0.6%), however beyond this limit, a slight reduction in IAA production was observed. The strains’ ability to produce IAA was further confirmed by extraction of crude IAA and subsequent TLC analysis. A specific spot from the extracted IAA preparation was found corresponding with the standard spot of IAA with same Rf value. The results of HPLC analysis conducted in identifying and quantifying the IAA production more precisely, are in agreement with the results of the assessment done with colorimetric method. As revealed by the results of the pot experiment, the isolated strain could significantly enhance the growth (as measured by shoot and root growth) of mung bean plants compared to that of non-inoculated plants. Therefore it can be concluded that the present strain, Pantoea rodasii has great potential to be used as bio-inoculants.

The fruiting body of honey mushroom, Armillaria gallica, was collected from Gastrodia elata cultivated fields. Pure cultures were isolated from fruiting body tissue of the mushrooms, and cultured on MCM (mushroom complete medium) or PDA (potato dextrose agar) medium. Then, 12 different types of mycelial growth characteristics such as growth rate, colony morphology and rhizomorph formation were obtained. The vitality of the mycelial growth and rhizomorph formation of the fruiting body culture isolates were better on MCM than PDA, suggesting that the optimal culture medium for A. gallica mycelia was MCM. To observe the feature of colony morphology, the subculture of isolates were incubated on MCM. Consequently, we could find the segregated or differentiated colony morphology from isolate type 11 that was similar morphology to isolate type 12. For phylogenetic analysis of the 12 isolates, RAPD (Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA) were performed. The isolate type 12 was not only shown different band patterns of RAPD variation in other 11 isolates, but also commercial strain known as Chunmagyun No. 1. Among the tissue culture isolates of fruiting, strains with better mycelial growth characteristics than Chunmagyun No. 1 were selected. We expect that the new strain can be substituted to commercial strain Chunmagyun No. 1.

Pholiota species were collected from different geographical regions of the world. Genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships were analyzed by rDNA-ITS sequences and RAPD polymorphism. The sizes of rDNA-ITS PCR amplicons of Pholiota spp. varied from 233~271, 158~223 and 174~219 bp, respectively. A phylogenetic tree was constructed on the ITS region sequences and Pholiota strains were classified into 8 clusters. Twenty strains in seven Pholiota spp. were classified into seven clusters by RAPD polymorphism using 15 arbitrary primers. Our experimental results suggested that rDN-ITS and RAPD analysis are useful tool for classifying Pholiota spp. and strains.

To develop a new cultivar of king oyster mushroom(Pleurotus eryngii), G09-21 as parental strain was selected by the method of Di-mon crossing between monokaryotic strain ASI 2824-21 derived from ASI 2824(Keunneutari No. 2) and dikaryotic strain ASI 2887(Aeryni 3). The Pe21-53(G09-21-10 x ASI 2844-9) was shown the best cultural characteristics, selected to be a new cultivar and designated as ‘Seolsong’. The ‘Seolsong’ was distinctly formed incompatibility line in the confrontation growth of parental strains Keunneutari No. 2, Aeryni 3 and ASI 2844. Analysis of the genetic characteristics of the new cultivar ‘Seolsong’ showed a different DNA profile as that of the control strains, Keunneutari No. 2, Aeryni 3 and ASI 2844, when RAPD(Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA) primer URP4 was used. The optimum temperature and pH arrange for mycelial growth were 25~30oC and pH 5~8, respectively. This new cultivar ‘Seolsong’ of fruiting body production per bottle was about 131.443.1 g which is about 102% quantity compared to that of other cultivar Keunneutari No. 2. And also the stipe is thick and long, but the number of available stipe is few. Particularly, it was tolerant of high moisture above 90% during the growth period after primodia formation. We therefore expect that this new strain will save of labor and cost of cultivation by without culling work.

A new variety of Pleurotus eryngii which is named ‘Gonji No. 8’ was bred by mating monokaryotic strain isolated from E085D2 and a monokaryotic strain ‘aerini No.3’ obtained from the Mushroom Research Institute, Gyeonggi-Do A.R.E.S. The characteristics of the new variety `Gonji No.8` is as follows. The optimum temperature for mycelium growth was from 23 oC to 26 oC on potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium. For the primodia formation and the growth of fruit bodies, the optimum temperature was from 14 oC to 16 oC. The period of spawn running was around 30 days at 22 oC and the days taken after the removal of the spawn layer to initiate primodia was seven days. The hardness value of fruit body was 8,4322,193 g/cm2, which was two times more than that of ‘Keunneutari No.2’. The yield of ‘Gonji No.8’ was about 133 g per bottle(900cc) and it was same as ‘Keunneutari No.2’.

When No. 42 strain of Pleurotus ostreatus was cultivated at five different media, MnP and Lac but no LiP activity was detected throughout the culture period in the media. The production of MnP and Lac by No. 42 strain of Pleurotus ostreatus were correlated with wheat bran composition in the medium. In the liquid culture, maximum production of MnP and Lac were observed in the medium contained glucose-peptone- yeast-wheat bran(GPYW). However, in solid medium, maximum production of MnP was observed in wood meal-wheat bran(WMW) medium, but that of Lac was observed in wheat bran(W) medium.

This study was carried out to evaluate the immunomodulatory capacity of edible mushrooms, including Sarcodon aspratus, Letinus edodes and Grifola frondosa in mice. BALB/c mice were administered 50, 500, and 1000 mg/ kg body weight of various mushrooms five times a week over 4 weeks through oral administration. The control mice were administered distilled water. No significant changes in body weight were observed. IL-4 and IFNγ production was evaluated with splenic T lymphocytes stimulated in vitro with phytohemagglutinins for 48 hr. The mice group administered Sarcodon aspratus, Grifola frondosa tend to higher ratio of IFNγ versus IL-4 than the other groups. In addition, the ratio of plasma IgG2a versus IgG1 was also elevated in mice treated with Sarcodon aspratus. These results indicated that Sarcodon aspratus can enhance type-1 helper T cell-mediated cellular immunity. And also, S. aspratus seems to be one of the most useful mushrooms for immunomedicine.

This study was initiated to investigate the skin whitening activities of methanol extracts from fruiting bodies of I. obliquus. The total polyphenols and flavonoids contents of I. obliquus methanol extracts were 31.85 mg/ g and 28.33 mg/g, respectively. The methanol extract of the mushroom treated on B16/F10 melanoma and NIH3T3 cell lines did not show cytotoxic activity. 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl(DPPH) free radical scavenging activity and chelating activity on ferrous ions of I. obliquus methanol extract were lower than those of positive control, tocopherol and BHT. The tyrosinase and L-DOPA inhibitory activities of the extract were lower than those of positive control, kojic acid and ascorbic acid. The tyrosinase and melanin synthesis inhibitory activities of the melanoma cells treated with the extract were comparable with positive control, arbutin. The experimental results suggested that methanol extract of I. obliquus contained inhibitory activities of tyrosinase and melanin synthesis in the B16/ F10 melanoma cells by dose dependent manner. High ultra-violet absorption spectra in the range of 280-350 nm showed that I. obliquus extract could protect skin from UV radiation damage. Therefore, fruiting bodies of I. obliquus can be used for developing skin whitening, anti-UV and skin care agents.

This study was carried out to optimize the conditions for a chemotaxonomic classification of Ganoderma species. The mycelia of Ganoderma species were extracted with 100% MeOH, and the concentrated extracts were further purified and partitioned with column chromatography (HP20) and n-BuOH, respectively. From the result of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), the constituents of the samples were efficiently separated with a Chemco Pak C18 column (250 mmX4.6 mm) by linear gradient elution using water and acetonitrile as mobile phase components at a flow rate of 0.8 ml/min and detector wavelength at 210 nm. However, the samples without purification or partition were not detected the characteristic peaks. This profile could be used to classify and identify the various Ganoderma species.

This study wascarried out to compare the medicinal effects of various Ganoderma species mycelial extracts. Among 6 Ganoderma species mycelial extracts by using 100% MeOH, G. species ASI-7150 showed the highest antioxidant effect. In nitric oxide (NO) production and -hexosaminidase release inhibition assay, the treatment of G. lucidum ATCC64251 (Taiwan) mycelia extracts most effectively inhibited NO production in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells and -hexosaminidase release. In addition, the treatment of all 6 Ganoderma species mycelial extracts were not affect on RAW264.7 cell viability. Although this preliminary research has thrown up many questions in need of further investigation, it will serve as a base for further studies of medicinal effects of various Ganoderma species.