STRUCTURE OF AERIAL AND SUBMERGED SCLEROTIA OF COPRINUS LAGOPUS

Abstract

SUMMARYSclerotia were formed in both aerial and submerged parts of the mycelium. In addition a layer of cells with pigmented thick walls (called brown matting) which differentiated at the air/agar interface was interpreted as an aspect of sclerotial behaviour since it was regularly formed by strains which produced submerged sclerotia and was composed of cells of similar structure to those of the outermost layer of the submerged sclerotium. Apart from producing sclerotia and oidiospores the cells of the aerial mycelium remained undifferentiated. In contrast, cells of the submerged mycelium, though initially indistinguishable from those of aerial hyphae, became individually differentiated within about 5 days of growth producing two further novel cell types; inflated cells containing glycogen, and hyaline thick-walled cells. Submerged sclerotia were pale brown in colour, irregularly shaped and about 0.5-1.0 mm in diameter. The only structure which differentiated the submerged sclerotium from the submerged mycelium was the outer rind, a layer of cells with thick, pigmented walls. The central (medulla) region contained the same cell types in the same frequencies as the general submerged mycelium. In sharp contrast the aerial sclerotia were highly organized structures composed of distinct and compact tissues. Mature aerial sclerotia were dark brown to black spheroidal structures up to 0.5 mm in diameter. An outer layer of dead and moribund hyphae surrounded the main body of the sclerotium which was bilayered with an outer rind and inner medulla. The rind was multilayered and consisted of small cells with thick pigmented walls; intercellular spaces were cuticularized. The medulla was a closely packed tissue composed predominantly of hyaline thick-walled cells of the same type as were encountered in the submerged mycelium.

The A mating type and blue light regulate all known differentiation processes in the basidiomycete Coprinus cinereus

“…Madelin (1960) described similar swollen hyphal cells in the mycelial matting of mono-and dikaryotic strains of C. cinereus and proposed a function in glycogen storage in preparation for fruiting. Other authors correlated these and thick-walled in¯ated cells in the submerged mycelium with the appearance of aerial and submerged sclerotia (Volz and Niederpruem 1970;Waters et al 1975a). They interpreted such enlarged cells as an aspect of sclerotial behaviour, because similar shaped cells were found inside of the sclerotia (Waters et al 1975a, b).…”

Life History and Developmental Processes in the BasidiomyceteCoprinus cinereus

“…The mature sclerotium possesses an outer uni-or multilayered rind composed of cells with thickened walls with melanin inclusions. The rind encloses a medulla of a mass of bulbous cells that are oval or more irregular in shape and, depending on the strain, are more or less thick-walled (171,507,509,510). The internal cells found within the medulla very closely resemble chlamydospores.…”

“…Development of sclerotia and often also chlamydospores correlates with the abundant occurrence of thick-walled inflated hyphal segments in the mycelial matting of older monokaryotic and dikaryotic cultures (262,294), and all these differentiations are believed to be related (262,507,510). Glycogen accumulates within the inflated hyphal cells and, if not relocated to the fruiting body (292,294), the polysaccharides seem to be transported to the sclerotia to build up the glycogen storage found in their internal inflated hyphae (190,338,342,510). Sclerotia of C. cinereus will germinate to give rise to a vegetative mycelium and do not serve in initiation of fruiting-body formation as in other basidiomycetes (335,338).…”

Coprinopsis cinerea from rice husks forming sclerotia in agar culture

“…a Names of taxon based onRedhead et al 2001; b Moor and Jirjis 1976; c this study; dWaters et al 1972Waters et al , 1975a e Waters et al 1975b …”

“…(syn. : Coprinopsis cinerea) were described by Moor and Jirjis (1976), and Waters et al (1972Waters et al ( , 1975a (Table 1). Sclerotia were formed by the three reference strains (NBRC 30628, NBRC 31333, and NBRC 100011) of C. cinerea from NBRC (2010) aerially or embedded in aerial hyphae in 8 days on both WA and PDA media, although NBRC 31333 formed sclerotia 36-46 days after start of culture (Table 2).…”