Oyster mushroom is one of the most widely cultivated and consumed mushrooms in Korea, and mechanization and automation of cultivation systems have enabled mass production. Many cultivars have been developed to replace the old ones such as ‘Suhan‘ and ‘Chunchuneutari 2 ho,‘ which have been cultivated for over 20 years. Among these, ‘Soltari‘ was developed in 2015. Although it has excellent quality, its cultivation is challenging and the productivity is somewhat lower. To address these issues, the Mushroom Division at the National Institute of Horticultural and Herbal Science selected the genetic resource KMCC05165 and attempted hybridization between monokaryons from KMCC05165 and ‘Soltari(KMCC04940)’. Through repeated cultivation tests and evaluation of fruiting body characteristics, the superior strain ‘Po-2019-smj22’ was selected and finally named ‘Otari‘. The optimal mycelial growth temperature of ‘Otari’ was between 25 and 30°C and optimal fruiting body growth temperature was between 13 and 18°C. Mycelial growth on PDA medium was best at 25°C, and at the same temperature, mycelial growth was similar across four media: PDA, MEA, MCM, and YM. In 1,100 mL bottle cultivation, the yield was approximately 174 g, which is about 5% higher than the control cultivar ‘Soltari‘, and the number of valid individuals was also higher at about 25. The diameter and height of the pileus were 29.8 mm and 17.6 mm, respectively, slightly smaller than ‘Soltari‘, and the stipe was thin and long with a thickness of 12.2 mm. Additionally, the pileus’ lightness index (L index) was 30.7, indicating a darker brown color compared to 'Soltari.' With excellent mycelial growth, ease of cultivation, and high yield, the new cultivar ‘Otari‘ is expected to be widely adopted by domestic oyster mushroom farms.

Plastics are widely used in industries in human society and because of their structural stability, degradation is a serious global issue. To estimate the degradation of plastic, 31 edible mushrooms were cultured with the selected plastic films (polyethylene [PE], polystyrene [PS], and poly(ethylene terephthalate) [PET]) for 3 months at 25 °C. Measuring the weight of the films showed that four species of mushrooms, namely Porostereum spadiceum, Ganoderma lucidum, Coprinellus micaceus, and Pleurotus ostreatus, exhibited the highest degrees of plastic degradation. In addition, the mushrooms and fungi that exhibited the most significant plastic degradation were cross-cultured to promote this degradation. As a result, cross-cultivation of G. lucidum and Aspergillus niger showed a weight loss of 2.49% for the PET film. For the PS film, Aspergillus nidulans showed a weight loss of 4.06%. Cross-cultivation of A. nidulans and C. micaceus, which showed a weight loss of 2.95%, was noted as an alternative for PS biodegradation, but is harmful to humans. These bio-degradation effects of edible mushroom will contribute to the development of alternatives for eco-friendly plastic degradation.

As a member of ectomycorrhizal fungi, Tricholoma matsutake has a symbiotic relationship with its host, Pinus densiflora. To cultivate T. matsutake artificially, the co-cultivation of T. matsutake mycelia and bacteria from shiro was introduced. In this study, bacteria were isolated from soil samples in Bonghwa-gun, and seven bacterial isolates (B22_7_B05, B22_7_B06, B22_7_B07, B22_7_B08, B22_7_B10, B22_7_B13, and B22_7_B14) promoted the growth of T. matsutake mycelia (147.48, 232.11, 266.72, 211.43, 175.17, 154.62, and 177.92%, respectively). Sequencing of the 16S rRNA region of the isolated bacteria was performed. B22_7_B05 and B22_7_B10 were identified as Bacillus toyonensis, B22_7_B06 and B22_7_B08 as Paenibacillus taichungensis, B22_7_B07 and B22_7_B14 as P. gorilla, and B22_7_B13 as P. odorifer. These bacterial isolates were associated with the shiro community and are expected to contribute to the cultivation of T. matsutake.

Tricholoma matsutake is a traditional favorite food in East Asia, cultivated in fairy rings called “shiro,” which are found near Pinus densiflora. For effective artificial cultivation of Tri. matsutake, microorganisms from symbiotic fairy rings are co-cultivated. In this study, one bacterial isolate (Y22_B35) and two fungal isolates (Y22_F64 and Y22_F68) displayed growth-promoting effects on Tri. matsutake mycelium (158.47, 125.00, and 122.26% enhanced growth, respectively). For identification, 16S rRNA or ITS regions from the microorganisms¡¯ genomes were sequenced. Other sequences, including BenA, CaM, and RPB2 were sequenced in the fungal isolates. The bacterial isolate Y22_B35 was identified as Bacillus cereus. Y22_F64 and Y22_F68 were identified as Umbelopsis nana and Aspergillus parvulus, respectively. To identify the effects of the dominant microorganisms on Tri. Matsutake cultivation, metagenomic analyses were performed. Discovery of these Tri. matsutake mycelium growth-promoting microorganisms and metagenomics analyses are expected to contribute to our understanding of Tri. matsutake fruiting body growth and construction of biomimicry.

To cultivate pine mushroom (Tricholoma matsutake) artificially, co-cultivation with microorganisms has been introduced. Here, experiments were performed to assess the growth-promoting effect of bacteria on T. matsutake mycelia. Bacteria were isolated from soil samples collected in Yangyang County, Korea. Four of the bacterial isolates (Y22_B06, Y22_B11, Y22_B18, and Y22_B22) exhibited a growth-promoting effect on T. matsutake mycelia (154.67%, 125.91%, 134.06%, and 158.28%, respectively). To analyze the characteristics of the bacteria, especially the antifungal activity, -amylase and cellulase activity assays were performed. In comparison with the controls, the isolated bacteria exhibited low -amylase and cellulase activity. 16S rRNA gene sequencing was performed to identify the four bacterial isolates. The isolates belonged to the Terrabacteria group and were identified as Microbacterium paraoxydans, Paenibacillus castaneae, Peribacillus frigoritolerans, and P. butanolivorans. These bacterial isolates are expected to have contributed to the growth promotion of T. matsutake mycelia and the artificial cultivation of T. matsutake.

This study was conducted to develop a renewable and sustainable bio-material to replace polystyrene (EPS) in fungal-mycelium-based composite using agricultural by-products. Four mushrooms (Ganoderma lucidum, Fomitella fraxinea, Phellinus linteus, and Schizophyllum commune) were cultured in an oak sawdust plus rice bran substrate to select the mushroom with the best growth. The mycelia of G. lucidum showed the best growth. To investigate the optimal mixing ratio with spent mushroom substrate (SM) and oak sawdust (OS), samples were prepared by mixing SM and OS at ratios of 50%:50%, 60%:40%, and 80%:20% (w/w). Each substrate was then inoculated with G. lucidum. G. lucidum showed the best mycelial growth of 140.0 mm in the substrate with SM and OS mixed at a 60%:40% ratio. It was also found that the substrate with SM and OS mixed at a 60%:40% ratio had the best handling properties. The compressive strength of mycelial materials inoculated with G. lucidum was in the range of 300–302 kgf mm-1, and the materials were four times stronger than polystyrene materials. These results indicate that substrates comprising spent mushroom substrate mixed with oak sawdust can be successfully upcycled to mycelium-based composite materials using G. lucidum. This represents a sustainable approach.

The study will design the structural optimization of 30W LED heat sink using the thermal conductive plastic materials. The advantages of thermal conductive plastic heat sink are having formability and being able to lighten products. A heat sink was optimized in terms of the number, and the thickness of fins and the base thickness of the heat sink, using the Heatsinkdesigner software. Also by using SolidWorks Flow simulation and thermal analysis software, the thermal characteristics of the heat sink were analyzed. As the result, the optimized heat sink has 22 fins, which are 1.5mm thick and a 3.8mm-thick base. The weight of the heat sink was 310g, and the highest and the lowest temperature were 64.93℃ and 45.96℃ respectively. Because of the low thermal conductivity of the thermal conductive plastic, the highest and the lowest temperature of the thermal conductive plastic heat sink were 14.3℃ higher and 2.19℃ lower respectively than an aluminum heat sink

This study analyzed the thermal properties of a thermal conductive polymer polyethylene terephthalate(PET) to make it into a heat sink and evaluated the temperature properties of 10W COB(chip on board) LED(Ligth Emitting Diode) as a heat sink. This study confirmed the composition and content of inorganic compounds in PET. As a result, carbon filler content of Samples A and B accounted for 73.93 and 61.46%, respectively. Sample B included 10% more inorganic filler(Al, Mg, Si, Ca), and its thermal conductivity was 10.9 W/mk higher than Sample A. Based on the material properties, this study compared the heat dissipation properties of 10W COB LED between PET and aluminum heat sinks. As a result, the maximum temperature of PET heat sink was 4.4℃ higher than that of aluminum heat sink, and the minimum temperature outside PET heat sink was 13.6℃ lower than that of aluminum heat sink. Based on these results, PET heat sinks are inferior to aluminum heat sinks in thermal properties. However, it is considered possible to realize various designs because they have excellent formability and lightweight properties due to the lower melting point and specific gravity