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in Mycelial Cultures of the Fungus Psilocybe cubensis J. Gartz
© Springer-Verlag 1990
Growth-Promoting Effect of a Brassinosteroid
in Mycelial Cultures of the Fungus Psilocybe cubensis J. Gartz
Institut fur Biotechnologie der AdW der DDR, DDR-7050 Leipzig
G. Adam and H.-M. Vorbrodt Institut fur Biochemie der Pflanzen der AdW der DDR, DDR-4010 Halle/S.
Brassinosteroids represent a new class
of steroidal plant-growth regulators re- garded from several laboratories as a further group of phytohormones. Till now about 30 members have been de- tected in a wide variety of higher plants including Angiospermae and Gymno- spermae as well as in a green alga [1,2].
The strong growth-promoting activity
of brassinosteroids involves complex physiological effects, including increase in cell elongation and cell division [3].
Promising results in the application of
such compounds to produce higher crop yields and anti-stress effects have also been reported [4, 5]. However, hitherto no studies on occurrence and activity of brassinosteroids on fungi have been published. Here, we report on a strong promoting effect of a bras- sinosteroid on mycelial growth and fruiting of the subtropical fungus Psilocybe cubensis (Earle) Singer.
In our studies an earlier described
strain of this fungus was used which is characterized by a high stability in growth and fruiting with various sub- strates [6]. The cultivation of the myce- lium was carried out on 6 % malt agar and a horse dung/rice grain mixture in water was used to produce fruiting.
Additionally, the substrates contained
5 g KH2PO4 per 1. As brassinosteroid, synthetic 22S,23S-homobrassinolide (Fig. 1) prepared from stigmasterol (see [2]) was applied.
In both cultivation systems the in-
fluence of 10-2 ppm brassinosteroid on growth of the fungus was investigated (ten runs each).
In the experiments with agar we observed that growth of my- celia took place two to three times Fig. 1.
Structure of 22S,23S-homobrassi- nolide faster than in the control series without steroid.
In the dung/grain substrate the first flush of fruit bodies appeared re- markably earlier.
Thus, whereas in the control the first sporocarps were produced within 4 to 5 weeks, the addi- tion of the brassinosteroid caused a fruiting of the mycelia already in 3 to 3.5 weeks.
Furthermore, a variation of the number of formed fruit bodies in the five flushes during fructification was observed, e.g., with brassino- steroid four to seven mushrooms were produced in the first flush compared to one to three in the control (Fig. 2).
The steroid-treated cultures afforded also a remarkably higher dry mass than the control cultivations (3.4 , 3.9 g versus 2.3-2.9 g/10 g substrate).
The forma- tion of incomplete fruit bodies, nor- mally present in mushroom cultivation, was almost completely suppressed by the brassinosteroid.
Interestingly, the added brassinosteroid also influenced the morphology of the formed fruit bodies which lacked the typical mem- branous annulus on the stems.
In summary, the observed strong
growth-promoting effect of 22S.23S- homobrassinolide in mycelial cultures of Psilocybe cubensis suggests that brassinosteroids could also play a phys- Fig. 2. Fruit bodies of Psilocybe cubensis on dung/grain substrate, a) Five weeks after in- oculation, b) with 22S,23S-homobrassinolide 3 weeks after inoculation iological role in higher fungi. Further studies, including commercially im- portant species, are in progress.
Received May 2, 1990
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