Preservation of Tropical Wood-Inhabiting Basidiomycetes

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.Abstract: The objective of this study was to develop a method to preserve tropical wood-inhabiting basidiomycetes in a viable state for an extended period. Storage in water, lyophilization, and cryopreservation methods of preserving tropical wood-inhabiting basiomycotina were compared. When tropical mycelial isolates were stored in sterile distilled water, 57% survived at 4 C for 2.5 mo; 92% of the isolates survived at 15 C for 10 mo. Bulbil-, clamydospore-, and conidium-forming fungi survived in cold water storage and maintained excellent viability for a decade. Vegetative hypha-, bulbil-, clamydospore-, and conidium-forming fungi survived cryopreservation using liquid nitrogen vapor. Only basidiomycetes that formed bulbils, chlamydospores, or conidia survived lyophilization. We conclude that the best method for long-term preservation of tropical fungi is cryopreservation by means of storage in liquid nitrogen vapor.

Chlamydospore Formation during Hyphal Growth in Cryptococcus neoformans

“…Due to their microscopic nature, structures that promote C. neoformans survival in the environment are not known and could be sexual basidiospores, mitotic yeast cells, filaments, or other unknown structures. While many soilborne fungi produce chlamydospores as long-lived survival structures under hostile environmental conditions (15,44), there has been no previous report of such structures in C. neoformans. Here we describe the formation of a morphological structure associated with the filamentous growth of C. neoformans that is strikingly similar to chlamydospores produced by other fungi, providing the first documentation of such structures in this organism.…”

Fungal Cultivation and Production of Polysaccharides

“…For many fungal species, mineral oil and distilled water are often used for short-term preservation periods (Richter and Bruhn 1989;Croan et al 1999). On the other hand, lyophilization and cryopreservation in liquid nitrogen, which arrest growth and may compromise some metabolic processes, represent long-term preservation techniques (Croan et al 1999;Colauto et al 2012a, b).…”