Extracellular protein production and morphogenesis of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lentinula edodes</Emphasis> in submerged culture

Along with a brief review of Lentinula edodes (shiitake mushroom) submerged cultivation history within the framework of important extracellular proteins biosynthesis, this study contains the authors’ own results. The possibility of regulating the lectin activity of shiitake using the synthetic components is shown. The time course of lectin production in culture liquid of L. edodes in different media under submerged culture conditions was studied. The activity of agglutinins depended on the ratio between carbon and nitrogen sources and the pH of the culture medium. A relationship between the chemical composition of nutrient medium, the activity of extracellular lectins of L. edodes, and the formation of pigmented mycelial film in liquid culture has been found. The formulation of medium, on which the brown mycelial film appears in several days of submerged cultivation, is proposed. The results obtained make a contribution to the present notion of biochemical processes that give rise to the occurrence of the aforesaid morphological structure of shiitake. Finally, two extracellular lectins from the submerged culture of L. edodes have been isolated and purified to homogeneity. Their physicochemical properties and composition have been studied.     

Relationship between the Carbohydrate Specificity of Lectins and the Carbohydrate Composition of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lentinus edodes</Emphasis> (Berk.) Sing [<Emphasis Type="Italic">Lentinula edodes</Emphasis> (Berk.) Pegler] Mycelium at Different Stages of Its Morphogenesis

The specificity of lectins from the basidiomycete Lentinus edodes (Berk.) Sing [Lentinula edodes (Berk.) Pegler] during solid-state cultivation was found to be maximum to carbohydrates detected in the pyri-dine-soluble fraction of mycelium during the brown mycelial film stage. The carbohydrate composition of the mycelium (i.e., its content of maltose, rhamnose, mannitol, and inositol) was found to be different upon normal fruiting body formation and when the nonpigmented mycelium produced defective fruiting bodies.