Light and Temperature Requirements during Fruit-Body Development of a Basidiomycete Mushroom, Coprinus congregates

Light initiated fruit body primordia of Coprinus congregatus Bull, ex Fr. grown at relatively high temperature (25°C) require a single dark period or low-temperature induction for completion of fruit-body development. The dark period requirement varied with the temperature regime during the inductive dark period A minimum requirement of 2.5 h was found al 15–20°C. Darkness always promotes development of fruit-body primordial, but cannot, be regarded as an absolute necessity until temperature exceeds about 17.5°C. Normal development of me primordia without darkness was obtained by lowering the temperature to 10°C for 6 h. It appeared that at high temperatures two successive stimuli were required for basidiocarp maturation, a light-off and a subsequent signal light-on signal. On the contrary, at 10°C a single low-temperature signal seemed to be involved. Thus, induction of fruit-body development could be produced by alternative pathways. These developmental features have been extended to other fungi and compared with the flowering processes of some short-day plants.