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The white-rot basidomycete Lentinula edodes often produces the lignin-degrading enzymes manganese peroxidase (MnP; EC 1.11.1.13) and laccase (Lcc; EC 1.10.3.2) in sawdust-based media. In the present study, MnP from L. edodes was induced under liquid culture supplemented with sawdust extracts of Castanopsis cuspidata. Lcc activity was induced by the addition of 2 mM CuSO 4 Á5H 2 O into the same media 7 days after initial inoculation. Phenoloxidase enzymes were distinguished by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (native-PAGE), followed by sequential enzymatic staining with an improved staining solution. The isozyme bands detected under MnP-induced conditions were identified as manganese peroxidase (lemnp2) and bands detected under Lcc-induced conditions were identified as laccase (lcc1) by Q-TOF mass spectrometry.

The karyotype of Flammulina velutipes (Curt. : Fr.) Sing. was investigated using contour-clamped homogeneous electric fields (CHEF) gel electrophoresis. A parental dikaryotic stock, JA, was resolved into at least eight chromosomal DNA bands ranging from 1.4-to 4.9-megabase (Mb) pairs. Overall, little size variation was found among monokaryotic strains with a few major exceptions. Among 13 monokaryotic progenies examined, 11 strains were resolved into at least eight chromosomal DNA bands in a manner similar to the parent dikaryon, whereas the other 2 were resolved into at least seven chromosomes lacking the 2.1-Mb chromosome possessed in the former. A slightly larger size variation was found in a chromosome carrying ribosomal DNA. An estimated haploid genome size of this stock was 24.0 Mb or more.

The biodiversity of saprotrophic and ectomycorrhizal basidiomycetous macrofungi growing on seven islands in central Japan were compared to examine colonizing success within the context of island biogeography theory. Two hypotheses were tested: that the number of the fungal species depends on island area and that the slope of the species-area curve for saprotrophic and ectomycorrhizal macrofungi differ in response to differences in their nutritional requirements. Data for the number of species that were identified based on sporocarps closely fit the conventional species-area curve. The slopes of the species-area curve for saprotrophic fungi (0.316) and ectomycorrhizal fungi (0.469) were similar to those reported for insects and birds, and plants on other archipelagos, respectively. In addition species-area curve data showed that ectomycorrhizal fungi colonized only islands > 630 m(2). While the species composition of saprotrophic fungi found on any pair of islands was positively correlated to the ratio of the areas of the island pair being compared (smaller/larger), no such relationship was observed for ectomycorrhizal fungi. Conversely similar ectomycorrhizal fungi, mostly those belonging to the genera Amanita, Inocybe, Boletellus and Russula, were found on pairs of islands with similar vegetation in the same geographic region. These results suggested that the colonizing success by ectomycorrhizal fungi is limited by host plant diversity, which is lower on smaller islands, instead of restricted immigration resulting from limited spore dispersal ability.

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