2020 Volume 28 Issue 2 Pages 62-67
Coprinus comatus is an edible mushroom cultivated mainly in China and Korea. However, basic research of this mushroom species is limited. In this study, we considered the optimum pH, medium composition, and supplementation to promote spore germination with the aim of establishing a simple basidiospore isolation technique for C. comatus. Young hyaline spores lacking a germ pore and mature black spores having a germ pore were sampled from fruiting bodies cultivated and inoculated on each agar medium, adjusted to pH 3.0 to 9.0. As a result, spore germination of C. comatus was only observed in young spores. Optimum pH for both spore germination and mycelial growth was pH 6.0, indicating its utility for single spore isolation of C. comatus. Young spores germinated and generated mycelial growth in cow dung extract agar, but not in PDA and MA media. In addition, germination of young spores and subsequent colony formation were significantly stimulated by n-butyric acid supplementation (50 ppm final concentration). These results indicated that the use of young spores and cow dung extract agar medium, adjusted to pH 6.0 and supplemented with n-butyric acid, is valuable for basidiospore isolation of C. comatus.
