Visible changes in the vegetative mycelium of Coprinus lagopus Fr. at the time of fruiting

Abstract

Until 2 days old, diploid colonies of Coprinus lagopus in plate cultures are entirely composed of uniformly cylindrical, slender hyphae. After this, many hyphae immersed in the agar swell considerably, filling completely with dense contents which stain deeply with iodine-potassium iodide. When fruiting begins, vacuoles appear in the swollen cells, and enlarge until the latter are devoid of dense contents. The swollen cells are thus organs of storage in preparation for fruiting. Observations suggest that the exhaustion of their contents is brought about by protoplasmic streaming motivated by vacuolar pressure. Similar storage cells develop in abundance in haploid colonies.