Fruiting body

Yeasts are one land of fungi. They are unicellular organisms surrounded by a cell wall and possessing a distinct nucleus. With veiy few exceptions, yeasts reproduce by a process known as budding, where a small new cell is pincEed off the parent cell. Under certain conditions, an individual yeast cell may become a fruiting body, producing spores. 

Ascoma (plural, ascomata) Fungal fruiting body that contains ascospores also termed an ascocarp. 

Basidioma (plural, basidiomata)- Fruiting body that produces basidia also termed a basidiocarp. 

Table 9.2 Contents of Luciferin, the Precursor of Luciferin, and SOD, in 1 g of Fruiting Body or Mycelium of Panellus stipticus, Armillaria mellea, Pleurotus japonicus, Omphalotus olearius, Mycena lux-coeli, and Mycena citncolor (data taken from Shimomura, 1992)...

Difference between fruiting body and mycelium. The luminescence intensities of both fruiting bodies and mycelia are in a relatively narrow range (6-21 x 1010 quanta s 1 g1), despite the clear difference that the fruiting bodies are generally rich in luciferin and the mycelia are rich in SOD (Table 9.2). 

Our study on Panellus luminescence was started when the fruiting bodies of this species were found in the backyard of my residence in the early 1980s. This fungus commonly grows on dead oak trees, and we observed a rich growth of this fungus on the fallen trees in the Beebe Wood, Falmouth, MA, over a period of 3-4 years after Hurricane Bob struck the area in 1991. 

Extraction and purification (Shimomura, 1989). Fruiting bodies are extracted with 30% methanol, and the extract is concentrated under reduced pressure. The residual solution (pH 6.0) is first washed with ethyl acetate, then acidified to pH 2.0 with 1 M HC1 and extracted with ethyl acetate. The extract is evaporated nearly to dryness. The residue is dissolved in 30% methanol and purified by the following 3-step procedure. 

The yield of panal is about 0.75% of fresh fruiting bodies or 2-3% of the dried material, based on weight. In the fruiting bodies, most of the panal probably exists in the forms of PS-A and PS-B. 

Extraction and purification (Shimomura, 1991b). The luciferin precursors PS-A and PS-B are extracted from the dried fruiting bodies of Panellus stipticus (5 g) with methanol, and the extract is evaporated under reduced pressure to remove most of the methanol. The residue (pH 6.3) is diluted with a small amount of water and extracted with ethyl acetate, and the extract is evaporated to dryness. The precursors in the residue are purified by three steps of silica gel chromatography and one step of HPLC, while monitoring the absorbance of eluate at 220-230 nm. The procedure is summarized below ... 

Table 9.4 Absorption Characteristics and Chemiluminescence Activities of Various Compounds derived from the Fruiting Bodies of Panellus stipticus (Shimomura, 1991b)...

Fig. 9.7 Bioluminescence of Panellus stipticus fruiting body (1) fluorescence of PM-2 in the presence of CTAB upon excitation at 440 nm (2) chemiluminescence of PM-2 in the presence of CTAB (3) chemiluminescence of PM-2 in the presence of 3-(dodecyldimethylammonio)propanesulfonate (SB3-12) (4) and chemiluminescence of the hot-water treatment product of PM-1 in the presence of SB3-12 (5). Curves 2-5 were measured in 2 ml of 50 mM Tris-HCl buffer (pH 8.0) containing 0.18 mM EDTA. Chemiluminescence was elicited by the addition of 5 p.1 of 50 mM FeSC>4 and 10 xl of 10% H2O2. From Shimomura, 1991b, with permission from Oxford University Press.

Fig. 9.9 Luminescence spectrum of a young fruiting body of Fanellus stipticus (1) the chemiluminescence spectra of PM-1 in the presence of CTAB (2) hexadecanoyl-choline iodide (3) and tetradecanoylcholine chloride (4). Chemiluminescence was elicited with Fe2+ and H2O2 in 50mM Tris buffer, pH 8.0, containing 0.18mM EDTA.

On the other hand, agricultural wastes can be alternatively used as substrates for edible biomass production. Cotton plant stalks [8], maize residues [9], olive milling wastewater [10] have been tested for cultivation of Pleurotus sp. fruiting body. 

A myxobacterium Stigmatella aurantiaca uses stigmolone (22) as its fruiting body inducing pheromone. Both the enantiomers of 22 were synthesized by Mori [56] and also byEnders [57], and found to be equally bioactive. Scheme 33 shows Mori s synthesis, and Scheme 34 summarizes that of Enders. Since both (R)- and (S)-22 were bioactive, ( )-22 was synthesized in a very efficient manner by Kulinkovich (Scheme 35) [58]. 

Mori K, Toyomasu T, Nanba H and Kuroda H. 1987. Antitumor action and fruit bodies of edible mushrooms orally administered to mice. Mush J Tropics 7 121—126. 

Mushrooms Spain 1994-95 fruiting body 13 species maximum values ... 

KEYWORDS Mercury concentration, forest soil, fungi, fruiting bodies, moss... 

Soil (L, F, H, and A layers), mosses and fungal fruiting bodies were each collected from the same spots at the three locations. The L, F, H samples were ground to pass a 1 cm sieve the mineral soil was sieved to retain its fine-earth 2mm fraction mosses were separated into green versus dead tissues the fruiting bodies were separated by stalk and cap. Subsamples were freeze-dried prior to... 

The rather complex pattern of Hg concentrations in soils, mosses and fungal fruiting bodies makes it difficult to use Hg concentrations in these substrates as a general and unambiguous indicator of Hg... 

Fig-1- Box plot for Hg concentrations (ppb, dry weight) in fungal fruiting bodies, by order. 

Hg concentrations in forest soils, mosses and fungal fruiting bodies are variable, and are influenced by many factors, such as the extent of forest-based capture of atmospheric Hg deposition, transmission of Hg from the forest canopy to the litter layer whether covered with mosses or not, and type of moss and soil layer conditions and configurations. Within the fungal fruiting bodies, further alternation of the Hg cycle occurs on account of mycelia substrate preferences and Hg allocation to stalk and caps, according to developmental stage. 

Nasr, M. 2007. Mercury levels in fungal fruiting bodies from interior and coastal forests of the Bay of Fundy region, New Brunswick, Canada. Thesis, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada. 

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