Anti-melanogenesis and skin anti-wrinkle effects of methanol (ME) and hot water (HE) extracts from the fruiting bodies of Ganoderma applanatum were investigated in this study. The total phenolic contents of the ME and HE of the mushroom were 11.68 and 3.15 μg GAEs/mg, respectively, whereas the total flavonoid contents of the ME and HE were 21.82 and 2.69 μg QEs/mg, respectively. The survival rate of B16-F10 murine melanoma cells treated with 750 μg ME and HE were 83.46% and 85.54%, respectively, thereby suggesting that mushroom extracts were slightly cytotoxic at the tested concentration. The in vitro tyrosinase inhibition by ME (83.15%) and HE (83.44%) was significantly lower than that of kojic acid (99.61%), the positive control, at 2.0 mg/mL. Although the inhibition of cellular melanin synthesis in B16-F10 melanoma cells by 2.0 mg/mL of ME (50.24%) and HE (51.24%) was lower than that of arbutin (64.84%), the inhibition by both ME and HE was higher than 50%. Collagenase inhibition by HE was comparable to 2.0 mg/mL epigallocatechin (EGCG), the positive control; however, elastase inhibition by ME and HE was lower than that of EGCG at the concentration tested. The results showed that the fruiting bodies of G. applanatum had good anti-tyrosinase, good anti-collagenase, and moderate anti-elastase activities, which might be useful for developing novel skin-whitening and anti-wrinkle agents.

Lignosus rhinocerotis, commonly known as Tiger Milk Mushroom, has been long extolled for its medicinal properties and used for treatment of asthma, cough, fever, cancer, liver-related illnesses, joint pains and as tonic. The history of usage for Tiger Milk Mushroom dates back to almost 400 years, ago but there were no records of scientific studies done due to inavailability of sufficient samples. Even when there were samples collected from the wild, the supply and quality was inconsistent. With the advent of cultivation success of one of the most utilized species of Tiger milk mushroom (L. rhinocerotis) in 2009 (known as TM02), scientific investigation was done to validate its traditional use and to investigate its safety for consumption, biochemical and biopharmacological properties. Preclinical toxicology evaluations showed that TM02 did not induce adverse effects on fertility. It also poses neither teratogenic effects nor genotoxicity. The no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) dose of the TM02 in 180-day chronic toxicity study is 1000 mg/kg which is equivalent to 162 mg/kg human dose, anticipated dose for a 60 kg adult is ~10g. The effective dosage of TM02 is as low as 0.5g per day for an adult. There is therefore, a huge margin for the safe consumption of TM02. TM02 is proven to be effective in supporting the lung and respiratory health, immune health, maintenance of joint health (caused by inflammation), improving vitality and stamina and improving the quality of life for cancer patients. Recent scientific findings have shown that TM02 contains various active components such as the polysaccharides-protein complexes, β-glucans, proteins, immuno-modulatory proteins all of which could play possible roles in rendering significant therapeutic properties such as anti-inflammatory, immuno-modulatory, anti-proliferative, anti-oxidative, neurite outgrowth stimulation etc. The revelation of the genome, transcriptome, proteome of L. rhinocerotis by MMRG has provided valuable insights into the biomolecule discovery and provided the foundation for future research and exploitation of L. rhinocerotis in pharmacological and functional food applications. These data forms a valuable foundation for future research in the exploitation of the L. rhinocerotis in pharmacological and industrial applications.

Sanghuangporus sanghuang (Hymenochaetaceae, Agaricomycetes) is a medicinal mushroom which has gained particular attention in Korea as a natural immune booster and a cancer suppressor. Recent molecular phylogenetic studies clarified the species concept of S. sanghuang extensively used in Asia including Korea, China, and Japan. In this study, we assembled its mitochondrial genome and identified the locations and functions of genes and coding regions using next-generation sequencing. Raw sequencing data was produced using PacBio approach, and assembled through hierarchical genome assembly process (HGAP). Determining the mitocondrial regions GeSeq and Artemis annotation tools were used. And the resulting gene map was visualized using OGDraw software. A total of 108 reads was aligned with a coverage of 11.87X. The entire mitochondrial genome was 111,734 bp in length, in which 24 proteins and 46 transfer RNAs were recognized. The overall base composition is 38.37% A, 38.42% T, 11.05% C and 12.14% G with an GC content of 23.2%. This mitochondrial genome data can be used to understand its phylogenetic relationship and taxonomic resolution and as a source of markers for population and species delimitation.

Recent enactments of the Nagoya Protocol and UPOV convention precipitated international competition to secure biological resources. To address these challenges in the case of mushroom industry, collecting and preserving the genetic resources are urgently needed. Mushroom Research Division, National Institute of Horticltural and Herbal Science, Rural Development Administration, has operated mushroom resource management facilities which consist of eight separate rooms with automatic temperature and humidity controllers for the safe preservation of mycelial cultures or voucher herbarium specimens. During the past three years the liquid-nitrogen (LN) cryogenic system for the permanent/semi-permanent preservation of the strains commercially or scientifically important are successfully installed, and the computerized resource management system using QR code are adopted. Up to now, 1,586 strains of 261 species in 79 genus of edible and medicinal mushrooms were preserved.

Sparassis crispa is an edible and a medicinal mushroom, which commonly called cauliflower mushroom and this mushroom, has recently become popular in Asian countries like Korea and Japan. S. crispa can establish to be a good source material for foods and nutraceuticals due to their rich flavor compounds and much amount of b-glucan. Basidiomycetes mushrooms hold the biologically active polysaccharides in fruit bodies, cultured mycelium, and culture broth. Many factors are amenable for the antitumor activities of polysaccharides such as water solubility, molecular size and their branch form. The antitumor activity was examined mainly in the β-glucan (1-3) branched moiety. The researchers suggest that the primary structure of purified β-glucan from the S. crispa possess the backbone structural units as β-(1,3)-D-glucan with single β- (1,6)-D-glucosyl side branching units in every three residues. Polysaccharide derived from S. crispa play an significant role in the antitumor activity. In vitro study revealed that the oral administration of S. crispa β -glucan results in suppressive effect on tumor growth and metastasis in lung cancer through the inhibition of tumor induced-angiogenesis. The researchers also suggests that this effects are not a result of direct action on the endothelial cells because cell growth, migration and capillary-like tube formation were not affected in the human umbilical vein endothelial cells by S. crispa β-glucan application.

본 시험은 국내외에서 수집한 꽃송이버섯균 22균주에 대하여 분자생물학적 유연관계를 분석하고자 하였다. 수집균주의 ribosomal DNA의 ITS 영역에 대한 cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (CAPS) 분석 결과, KACC50866은 다른 균주들과 20%이하의 유연관계를 나타내었으며 나머지 균주들은 90% 이상의 유연관계를 보이면서 4그룹으로 구분되었다. 따라서 이들의 세분화된 분자생물학적 구분을 위하여 rDNA ITS 영역의 염기서열분석을 하여 구분하여 본 결과 KACC50866 균주는 다른 꽃송이버섯균과 유연관계가 매우 낮은 것으로 나타났다. 그리고 나머지 21개 균주는 같은 그룹으로 구분되어 있어 같은 종으로 생각할 수 있으나, 이들을 좀더 세분하기 위해서는 미토콘드리아의 유전자 서열 분석 등이 병행되어야 할 것으로 판단된다.

국내유통약용버섯의 분류체계를 확립하고 이들 속 및 종간의 유연관계확립을 위하여 계통학적 정보를 지니고 있는 ITS부위의 염기서열을 밝히고 ITS1과 ITS2부위의 다양한 염기서열을 이용하여 분류학적 위치를 확립하였고, 시판 I. obliquus 종의 진위여부와 계통분류학적인 유연관계 확립 및 종 특이적인 유전자 탐침을 개발하였다. 본 연구의 조사결과에 의하면, 약용버섯으로 주로 시판되고 있는 국내유통균주는 총 6개의 속(Phellinus, Inonotus, Sparassis, Fomes, Ganoderma, Hericium)으로 나누어짐을 알 수 있었고 그 중에서 기존에 잘 알려진 상황버섯과 최근 들어 수입양이 급증하고 있는 차가버섯이 대부분을 차지하고 있는 것으로 확인되었다. 본 연구에 사용되어진 일명 차가버섯으로 유통 중인 15개 제품 중 중국에서 수입되어진 59번 균주가 P. pini로 확인되었으며 일본에서 수입되어진 51, 52번 균주가 P. baumii와 P. linteus와 유사종 혹은 동일종으로 확인되었다. 한편 I. rheades(AY237731)와 I. radiatus(AY354217) 및 F. fomentarius(AY354213)는 NCBI 등록 시 문제점이 있는 것으로 사료되며 본 실험에서 조사되어진 30번 균주 F. fomentarius가 정확한 말굽버섯인 것으로 사료된다.

이 연구는 약용버섯 번데기 동충하초로부터 특이적 자실체 형성 유전자를 선별하기 위하여 수행하였다. cDNA는 버섯의 분화 4단계 균사체, 원기, 미성숙 자실체, 성숙한 자실체로부터 분리한 각각의 total RNA를 이용하여 합성하였다. 특이적으로 발현된 유전자의 선별은 cDNA와 랜덤한 primer set을 이용한 DD-PCR에 의해 수행되었고, pGEM 클로닝 벡터를 이용하여 6개의 partial 유전자 서열을 확인하였다. 6개의 DD-PCR product는 보고된 유전자와 유사도를 확인하기 위해 NCBI BLAST search를 사용하여 GenBank에서 비교하였고, 6개의 유전자는 보고되지 않은 유전자임을 확인하였다.