Wood ear mushrooms (Auricularia heimuer) are commercially used in various fields in South Korea. Therefore, it is necessary to take appropriate measures, including monitoring and prevention of microbial growth in cultivation houses, as microorganisms can reduce the wood ear mushroom’s marketability and cause food poisoning among consumers. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the direct impact of airborne fungi isolated and identified from the indoor air of domestic wood ear mushroom cultivation houses on the mycelia growth of wood ear mushroom strains. For the evaluation, 11 airborne fungal species were tested with three strains of A. heimuer on PDA using the cocultivation method. Among them, Alternaria alternata, Cladosporium anthropophilum, Cochliobolus kusanoi, Lecanicillium sp., Periconia byssoides, and Periconia pseudobyssoides suppressed the mycelial growth of all three A. heimuer strains. There was no significant difference in the reaction against the 11 tested airborne fungal species among the three A. heimuer strains. The results of this study show that proper management of airborne fungi is necessary in the indoor environment of wood ear mushroom cultivation houses.

Wood ear mushroom (Auricularia heimuer) is one of the most popular mushrooms in Korea. Bacteria in the air can act as contaminants of mushroom media, mushroom pathogens, and sources of food poisoning in the indoor environment of mushroom cultivation houses. Therefore, cultivation houses require proper management to maintain mushroom production, quality and hygiene. This study was conducted to evaluate the properties of airborne bacterial species isolated from wood ear mushroom cultivation. Nine species of indoor-airborne bacteria were tested against wood ear mushroom cultivars using confrontation assay on PDA. Among 9 species, Bacillus subtilis DUCC18238 showed the strongest inhibition effect on the mycelial growth of nine wood ear mushroom cultivars and the inhibition rate for 7 of them was more than 30%. In addition, B. subtilis DUCC18238 inhibited the mycelial growth of 11 out of 18 wild mushroom species, 7 out of 8 phytopathogenic fungi, and 5 out of 5 Trichoderma species, respectively. The results of this study show that the management of airborne bacteria in the indoor environment of wood ear mushroom cultivation houses is necessary.

Cordyceps militaris is widely used in China, Korea, and other Asian countries as both a traditional medicinal ingredient and an edible fungus. This study aimed to optimize the growth conditions and fruiting body production of C. militaris by investigating various culture media and physical parameters such as pH, aeration, illumination, temperature, spawn materials, and oat–sawdust-based substrate formulations. After a 7-day incubation period, oats with a pH of 6.0, under sealed and illuminated conditions at 32°C, demonstrated the most effective mycelial growth. Substrates consisting of 70% oat and 30% sawdust had the shortest incubation time of 30.5 days for fruiting body formation. The basidiospores showed a typical germination pattern where the sporidium produced a single germ tube that elongated, and branched to form monokaryotic primary mycelia. In conclusion, using oats as a substrate in the cultivation of C. militaris could reduce production costs and help protect the environment.

The oyster mushrooms have known to be a major product in Gyeonggi-do, with production accounting for 69% of the entire country. The ‘Daeseon’ cultivar, which has white and straight stem, was developed. This cultivar was developed by mating monokaryons isolated from the ‘Heuktari’ and ‘Hwaseong-2ho’ varieties. The optimum temperature for the mycelial growth was 26~32oC on PDA medium and that for the primordia formation and the growth of fruit body of ‘Daeseon’ was 16~20oC on sawdust media. It took 35 days to complete spawn running, 3 days for finish primordia formation, and 4 days for finish fruit body growth in the bottle culture. It has shallow funnel-shaped pileus and a white straight stipe. The yield per bottle was 201 g/1,100 ml and was 16% higher than that of control cultivar ‘Suhan-1ho’. Based on above results, we expect this cultivar to be suitable for small packaging.

가송이(Tricholoma bakamatsutake Hongo)는 주름버섯목(Agaricales), 송이과(Tricholomataceae)에 속 하는 외생균근성 버섯류의 하나로, 송이(T. matsutake)와 일반적인 외형이 거의 비슷하며, 송이향과 맛이 강하게 나기 때문에 이 두 균종은 쉽게 혼동되며, 실제 분류 및 계통발생학적으로도 가송이와 송이는 유연 관계가 있는 것으로 밝혀졌다. 가송이는 한국, 일본, 대만, 중국의 신갈나무 등과 같은 활엽수림에 분포하는 것으로 알려져 있으며, 최근에는 제주도 구실잣밤나무림에서 발견되었다. 가송이는 균사생장이 매우 느려 연구에 어려움이 많아 균사배양 최적 조건을 구명하고자 본 연구를 실시하였다. 온도에 따른 가송이 균주 별 균사생장 특성을 조사한 결과, 모든 균주에서 25℃에서 가장 균사생장속도가 가장 빨랐으며, 특히 3833 균주가 다른 균주에 비해 약 1.5배 빠른 것으로 조사되었다.

The oyster mushroom is a widely cultivated edible mushroom in Korea. It is a regionally specialized crop in Gyeonggi-do, where 68% of the national production is produced. The present study was conducted to develop a new, highquality cultivar with stable cultivation. ‘Manseon’ is a new variety of oyster mushroom suitable for bottle culture. It was produced by mating monokaryons isolated from ‘HB-18’ and ‘P15159-16’. The optimal temperature for ‘Manseon’ mycelial growth was 26–29 °C on potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium and for primordia formation and the growth of fruit bodies the optimal temperature was 18–19 °C on sawdust medium. Spawn running required 30 d, primordia formation required 4 d, and fruit body growth in the bottle culture required 4 d. Regarding the characteristics of the fruit bodies, the pilei were round and dark grayish brown, stipe color was white, and stipe shape was short and thick. The yield per bottle was 192.7 g/1,100 cc, which was 9% higher than that of the control strain (Suhan-1ho). The physical properties of springiness, cohesiveness, gumminess, and brittleness of stipe tissue were 87.9%, 77.4%, 445.1 kgf, and 389.6 kgf, respectively.

Volvariella bombycinais an edible mushroom commercially cultivated in Korea and other countries. In this study, the culture characteristics and optimal growth conditions of milky mushroom strains were determined. The growth temperature and pH range of V. bombycinawas extensively investigated between 15 and 35oC and pH 3–11. For efficient cultivation, 20 types of nutrient sources were selected, specifically, 21 carbon sources, 6 organic nitrogen sources, 7 inorganic nitrogen sources, 13 amino acids, 9 organic acids, and 13 inorganic salts. The impact of each of the selected nutrition sources and their concentration on growth was investigated. The optimum temperature and pH were determined to be 30oC and pH 8.0, respectively. The optimum concentration of medium elements required for mycelial growth of V. bombycinawas determined to be as follows: carbon source, 0.7% Soluble starch; organic nitrogen source, 0.7% Soytone; inorganic nitrogen source, 1.0% (NH4)2C4H4O6; amino acid, 0.1% cysteine; organic acid, 0.07% lactic acid; and inorganic salt, 0.07 mM CaCl2.

This study was conducted to investigate the growth and antioxidant activity of Pleurotus ostreatus mycelia grown in medium supplemented with Aronia. The diameter and dry weight of the mycelia were increased in the medium supplemented with Aronia compared with the untreated medium. The total polyphenol content of mycelia grown in medium supplemented with Aronia and untreated medium was 6.54 mg GAE/g and 5.77 mg GAE/g, respectively. The 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity of mycelia grown in medium supplemented with Aronia and untreated medium was 61.81% and 49.65%, respectively. Moreover, the 2,2'-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radical scavenging activity of mycelia grown in medium supplemented with Aronia and untreated medium was 59.83% and 52.66%, respectively. These results confirmed that P. ostreatus mycelial growth and antioxidant activity were increased when Aronia was added to the culture medium.

This study was conducted to reduce the phenomenon of the biased cultivation of certain mushroom varieties and to develop a competitive variety of Grifola frondosa. We developed the first Korean white commercial mushroom strain, ‘Bakyeon’, by crossing monokaryons derived from brown strains. We have collected and tested the characteristics of mushrooms from domestic and international genetic resources since 2018. We bred the unique domestic variety, ‘Bakyeon’, which has the following characteristics. The optimal temperature for mycelial growth was 25~28oC and the optimal temperature for fruit body growth was 16~18oC. The new variety was similar to the control variety (Daebak) in terms of the pileus, which formed a pine cone shape, and the number of days of cultivation. The yield was 94.1 g/bottle, which was 23% lower than the 108.5 g/bottle yield of the control variety. When incubating the parent and control varieties, the replacement line was clear. Moreover, polymerase chain reaction analysis of mycelial DNA resulted in different band patterns between the parent and control varieties, confirming the hybrid species.

In this study, we determined the effect of different concentrations of Cd on the growth of Pleurotus ostreatus mycelia, which was confirmed using PDA, PDB, and a column test. The efficacy of treatment was evaluated using Cd at two concentrations, 10 ppm and 100 ppm. The extent of mycelial growth on PDA and PDB was similar to that observed in the untreated groups and those treated with 10 ppm Cd. However, it was found that the mycelial growth was suppressed in a system treated with Cd at concentrations of 100 ppm. Moreover, the extent of mycelial growth observed upon conducting a column test was similar to that obtained using PDA and PDB. When the composition of free amino acids in PDB was determined, their levels in the group treated with 100 ppm Cd were found to be similar to those of the control. However, the amounts of 15 amino acids in the group treated with 10 ppm of Cd had increased compared to those detected in the control.