We aimed to develop outstanding domestic varieties suitable for both columnar and cylindrical-shape substrates, aiming to replace foreign varieties. and bred a high-quality new strain named ‘Charmjon’, using genetic resources collected from Japan and China. The optimal cultivation temperature for Charmjon’s mycelial growth was found to be 25°C, and its mycelial growth at 15°C and 25°C was superior to the control variety. In terms of mycelial growth characteristics based on the substrate, Charmjon exhibited excellent mycelial strength on PDA medium compared to the control variety. Through columnar and cylindrical-shape substrates cultivation, we assessed the quantity and morphological characteristics of the fruiting bodies. The results confirmed that Charmjon can be produced stably using both cultivation methods, and it showed higher yields and individual weights than the control variety. In addition, the color of the pileus was notably darker, and the shape of the pileus varied depending on the cultivation method. The test of genetic diversity revealed that Charmjon has distinct genetic characteristics compared to the control varieties.

This study was conducted to investigate the reasons for the decreased importation of fresh Shiitake mushrooms into Korea after implementation of the Korea–China Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Monthly time-series data from January 2009 to December 2022 were analyzed using regression analysis and vector autoregression (VAR) models to determine the relationship between the amounts of fresh and spawn Shiitake mushrooms imported. The analysis revealed that a major reason for the decreased importation of fresh Shiitake mushrooms was an increase in mushroom spawn imports after Korea–China FTA implementation. The same results were obtained from the VAR model analysis. However, in terms of the dynamic changes in amount of fresh shiitake mushrooms imported, it was confirmed that the impact of the change in mushroom spawn imports could increase the amount of Shiitake mushrooms imported.

The effects of punching treatment on mycelial culture and fruiting body productivity were investigated in a new Lentinula edodes cultivar, “Jadam”, in sawdust medium for the stable production of oak mushroom. As the punching volume and number increased, the weight loss rate and color difference increased and the L value decreased. After spawn inoculation, the sawdust medium temperature and CO2 concentration reached their highest values at 33 and 19 days of incubation, respectively. The O2 concentration showed the lowest value on the 14th day of incubation, which was the opposite pattern to the CO2 concentration. As the punching volume and the number increased, the medium temperature and O2 concentration increased, and the CO2 concentration decreased. Higher punching volumes and numbers resulted in higher temperatures and lower CO2 concentrations. The best fruiting body yield was 5 × 70 mm - 30 (punching diameter × depth - number), and the total yield after three cycles was 644.7 g.

A new spore-less cultivar Lentinula edodes ‘Daedam’ was bred from monokaryotic strains of ‘LE15401-24’ and ‘LE192118-10’. The optimum temperature for mycelial growth of ‘Daedam’ on potato dextrose agar was 22~25oC. Total cultivation period of the new cultivar, from inoculation to its first harvest, was 134 days, similar to that of the control cultivar ‘Hwadam’. Total yield of ‘Daedam’ was 222g per 3kg substrate, and was lower than that of control cultivar(266.0g). The fruiting body of ‘Daedam’ had a thick and small pileus and a longer stem compare to control cultivar. As a result of a analyzing the productivity of ‘Daedam’ on the different substrate types, the biological efficiency was 26.7% in the 1.2kg cylindrical substrate(CS), which was higher than that of the 3kg rod-type substrate(RS). 'Daedam' had a similar yield compared to 'Hanacham' in first fruiting body production, but the cultivation period was 40 days shorter. Therefore, 'Daedam' can only harvest fruiting bodies once, it is thought that it can be used as spore-less oak mushroom cultivar for short-term cultivation instead of 'Hanacham' in mushroom farms.

In this study, the growth characteristics of Lentinula edodes were confirmed by bean sprout waste(BW) as an alternative raw material for rice bran. The mycelium growth of Sanjo701, a major cultivation variety of L. edodes, was compared between a medium mixed with 8:2(v/v) of oak sawdust and a medium mixed with BW 50% and BW 100%. The mycelium growth in BW 50% was 13.5 cm. Compared to the control, BW 50% increased the diameter of the pileus by 1.6 cm. Additionally, the length of the pileus decreased by 0.4 cm when comparing the growth of the fruit body. In contrast, at BW 50%, the diameter of the pileus decreased by 9.6 cm and the length of the stipe decreased by 1.4 cm. According to analysis of the constituent amino acids, BW 50% showed a lower overall nutritional content than the control, whereas BW 100% had a lower amino acid content than the control. However, glutamic acid and aspartic acid, which are flavor-enhancing ingredients, were observed at levels of 3.954 mg/g and 1.436 mg/g, respectively, in BW 100%. Therefore, if bean sprout by-products are efficiently processed and utilized, it is believed that they will be beneficial to farmers as a substitute for rice bran and reduce the cost of manufacturing substrate

The objective of this study was to achieve biological control of green mold disease in Pyogo mushrooms using antagonistic microorganisms. Bacillus subtilis BSM320 cells inhibited mycelial growth by 48–60% against three Trichodermaisolates including T. hazianumisolated from the substrates of Lentinula edodes, showing their antifungal activity.The bacteria were cultured to a high density of 4.2 x 109±113.7 cfu/mlin aqueous extract of composted spent mushroom substrates of L. edodes containing 1% glucose and showed a higher growth rate than that observed when using the commercial medium, Luria-Bertani broth. The bacterial culture showed a 75% protective effect without damaging the mushroom fruiting bodies. These results suggest that B. subtilis BSM320culture is suitable for biological control of green mold disease during mushroom cultivation.

This study aimed to replace the imported Chinese complete medium for Lentinula edodes with a newly-developed complete medium that is suitable for export as well. Three media compositions that supported fast mycelium growth and higher density, compared to that in the control, were chosen. Culture in the T13 medium reduced the incubation period for ‘Nongjingo’ by 12 days and for ‘Cham-aram’ by 10 days, compared to that required for the control; in addition, the number of days required for browning was greatly reduced for both varieties. The quantity of each mixed medium was increased according to the composition from the 1st to the 5th cycle by 5.9% for ‘Nongjingo’ and 12.6% for ‘Cham-aram’ in T13, compared to that in the control. A mixed medium comprising oak sawdust + Douglas fir sawdust + corn flour (40:40:20, v/v) was selected as the most suitable complete medium.

To develop mushroom varieties for cultivating at low temperature on oak logs, a strain with a low fruiting body generation temperature was crossed with Di-mon to select for a line with excellent properties. Selection was followed by cultivation testing. From these studies, Heunghwa 1ho was identified. The optimum temperature for cultivating Heunghwa 1ho, was 13.3oC. The fruiting temperature range was 6.4~20.2oC, identical to that of the parent strain. Growth at 25oC for 7 days achieved optimal mycelial growth of 61.9±2.10 mm, superior to growth of the parent strain at this temperature. The cap shape of Heunghwa 1ho was convex, cap diameter was 57.8±8.31 mm, and cap color was brown. Heunghwa 1ho showed similar genetic traits to those of the parental strain. However, dry weight (20.1 kg/m3) and cap diameter and color are superior to those of the parent strain. The 3 year fresh oak mushroom yield was 113.8 kg/m3, superior to the respective yields of the parent strains JMI 10047 and JMI 90021 (92.5 kg/m3 and 66.4 kg/m3).

Despite the long history of mushroom use, studies examining the genetic function of mushrooms and the development of new varieties via bio-molecular methods are significantly lacking compared to those examining other organisms. However, owing to recent developments, attempts have been made to use a novel gene-editing technique involving CRISPR/Cas9 technology and genetic scissors in mushroom studies. In particular, research is actively being conducted to utilize ribonucleoprotein particles (RNPs) that can be genetically edited with high efficiency without foreign gene insertion for ease of selection. However, RNPs are too large for Cas9 protein to pass through the cell membrane of the protoplasmic reticulum. Furthermore, guide RNA is unstable and can be easily decomposed, which remarkably affects gene editing efficiency. In this study, nanoparticles were used to mitigate the shortcomings of RNP-based gene editing techniques and to obtain transformants stably. We used Lentinula edodes (shiitake mushroom) Sanjo705-13 monokaryon strain, which has been successfully used in previous genome editing experiments. To identify a suitable osmotic buffer for the isolation of protoplast, 0.6 M and 1.2 M sucrose, mannitol, sorbitol, and KCl were treated, respectively. In addition, with various nanoparticle-forming materials, experiments were conducted to confirm genome editing efficiency via the formation of nanoparticles with calcium phosphate (CaP), which can be bound to Cas9 protein without any additional amino acid modification. RNPs/NP complex was successfully formed and protected nuclease activity with nucleotide sequence specificity.

To optimize initial cooling conditions, forced-air cooling was applied to freshly harvested oak mushrooms at 2 levels (0oC for 30 minutes, at 0oC for 1 hour) followed by room cooling at 3 levels (-3oC for 1 day, 0oC for 1 day, 3oC for 1 day). After initial cooling, the oak mushrooms were packaged with PVC film, then held in a storage room at 1oC for 6 weeks. Quality characteristics and percentage marketability were then investigated. As a control, Mushrooms were placed in storage with no initial cooling. The quality factors impacting marketability of fresh oak mushrooms were color change and appearance of decay. Off-odor did not occur or developed only slightly, so it did not affect oak mushroom quality within 6 weeks of low temperature storage. In all treatment groups, the shelf life in which 100% marketability was maintained was up to 3 weeks. At week 5, percent marketability of the 3 treatment groups 1 hour room cooling treatment at 0°C, 1 hour forced air cooling, and control was 100%. 80% In the group that underwent 30 min forced air cooling retained 80% marketability, and the group exposed to 1 day in room cooling at -3oC retained 86.7% marketability. At week 6 of 1oC storage, the marketability ratio was 80% in the 1 day room cooling at 0oC group, 66.7% in the 1 day room cooling at 3oC group, 46.7% in the 1 hour forced air cooling group, and 33% or less in all other treatment groups. Therefore, the most suitable initial cooling parameter to extend shelf-life of oak mushrooms is 1 day of in room cooling at 0oC immediately after harvest.

This study was conducted to establish an appropriate period of use of sawdust spawn at low temperatures and a nutrient supplement medium for cultivation of Lentinula edodes ‘Hwadam’. Of the nutrient supplements, the total yield of rice bran (5%) + corn flour (5%) treatments were 673.3 g, which was higher than rice bran (551.6 g) and wheat bran (546.7 g) treatments, respectively. As shown by the growth of Lentinula edodes ‘hwadam' during to the sawdust spawn storage period (at 4oC), the period of spawn running, browning, fruiting body formation, and development was 27 d, 81 d, 5 d, and 11-13 d, respectively, regardless of the length of the storage period at 4 oC. After 3 months of storage of sawdust spawn, the number of fruiting bodies and yield decreased as the storage period increased. Therefore, the period of use of sawdust spawn (at 4 oC) for the stable production of fruiting bodies of Lentinula edodes ‘Hwadam’ was a maximum of 3 months.