Synchronous Initiation and Sporulation of Fruit Bodies byCoprinus Cinereuson a Defined Medium

Abstract

As in many Basidiomycetes, dikaryotic mycelia of Coprinus cinereus neither initiates nor produces normal fruit bodies in the absence of light. However, once light-dependent fruit body initiation takes place, alternating periods of light and dark are required for normal fruit body development. Cultures grown on a defined medium designated as Coprinus Fruiting Medium (CFM) at 25 C and exposed to continuous light or alternating 12-h periods of light and dark, invariably produced fruit body primordia at the point of inoculation. Cultures kept in the light following fruit body initiation gave rise to abortive fruit bodies. Cultures grown in alternating light and dark periods produced fruit body initials after 140 to 144 hours of incubation. If these incubation conditions were continued, 4-5 fruit bodies per culture sporulated synchronously during the 5th 12-h dark period following fruit body initiation. Cultures incubated in the dark did not produce fruit body initials. The presence of both DL-alanine and L-asparagine in CFM was essential for both fruit body initiation and fruit body maturation given the appropriate light and dark regimes. The synchronous nature of both fruit body initiation and fruit body maturation exhibited by C. cinereus grown on CFM under the conditions described here make this procedure useful for a variety of developmental studies.