Monokariotic fruiting body and clamp cell formation in Mycoleptodonoides aitchisonii (Bunaharitake)

Abstract

Abstract The ability to produce monokaryotic fruiting bodies and clamp cells in culture was examined in monokaryotic strain isolated from several dikaryotic parental strains of the edible mushroom, Mycoleptodonoides aitchisonii (Bunaharitake). We describe a single dikaryotic M. aitchisonii strain, TUFC50005, and 20 monokaryons derived from it, which exhibited a wide spectrum of monokaryotic fruiting types. Most strains formed primordia, or young fruiting body-like structures, but only one of the monokaryons, strain TUFC50005-4, formed a fruiting body, even though it had only one nucleus and produced only two spores after meiosis. We demonstrated that dikariotization was not required for clamp cell formation, fruiting body formation, or meiosis, in this mushroom.