Cultural properties of a luminous mushroom,Mycena chlorophos

Abstract

Cultural conditions on mycelial growth and fruit-body formation ofMycena chlorophos were studied. The optimum temperature of the mycelial growth was 27°C and the optimum initial pH of medium was 4.0. Peptone agar medium was suitable for the spawn culture. Compost medium containing rice bran at 10% (fw/fw) was appropriate for fruitbody formation in the Petri dish. Light was essential for initiation of primordia, and low-temperature treatment induced fruit-body formation effectively. The optimum conditions for fruit-body formation were found to be the cultivation at 27°C for 4 wk and continued cultivation for 3 wk under illumination at an intensity above 0.2 lx and at 21°C after casing with moist compost powder. In the fruit-bodies obtained, the maximum photosensitive wavelength of luminescence was 522 nm and the optimum temperature for emission was 27°C. The luminescence of a fruit-body was observed for about 3 d consecutively at 21°C.