Lentinula edodes is one of the most popular edible mushrooms worldwide and contains important medicinal components such as lentinan, ergosterol, and eritadenine. Mushroom metabolism is regulated by the mycelia and fruit body using light; however, in mushrooms, the underlying molecular mechanisms controlling this process as well as light-induced gene expression remain unclear. Therefore, in this study, we compared morphological changes and gene expression in the fruit bodies of L. edodes cultivated under blue light and continuous darkness. Our results showed that blue light primarily induced pileus growth (diameter and thickness) compared to dark cultivation. Alternatively, stipe length development was promoted by dark cultivation. We also performed RNAseq on L. edodes under the blue light/dark cultivation conditions. A total of 12,051 genes were used for aligning the Illumina raw reads and 762 genes that showed fold change cut-offs of >|2| and significance p-values of <0.05 were selected under blue light condition. Among the genes which showed two-fold changed genes, 221 were upregulated and 541 were downregulated. In order to identify blue light induced candidate genes, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were selected according to 4-fold changes and validated by RT-PCR. We identified 8 upregulated genes under blue light condition, such as DDR48-heat shock protein, Fasciclin-domain-containing protein and carbohydrate esterase family 4 protein, FAD NAD-binding domain-containing protein that are involved in morphological development of primordium and embryonic muscle development, cell adhesion and affect the structure of cellulosic and non-cellulosic cell walls of fruit body development, and photoreceptor of blue light signaling for fruit body and pigment development, respectively. This study provides valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying the role of blue light in mushroom growth and development and can thus contribute to breeding programs to improve mushroom cultivation.

Blue light is an important environmental factor that induces mushroom growth and morphological changes. In this study, after confirming the morphological difference between Lentinula edodes (LE) under blue light condition (BL) and lightless condition (LL), the increase and decrease in LE protein and the expression of RNA of each protein were confirmed under each condition. LE specimens grown in BL and LL were identified by 253 spots in BL through 2D electrophoresis and LC-MSMS analysis, and 22 types of proteins were identified. It was confirmed that 14 types of proteins showed reduced expression in BL compared to LL. On the other hand, eight kinds of proteins with increased expression in blue light compared to LL were identified. As a result of confirming the difference from the expression pattern in 2D electrophoresis through Quantitative Real-Time PCR, it was confirmed that the expression pattern of the two proteins showed a difference. Therefore, this study will be a key study on the changes in mushroom morphology induced by blue light and the proteins that induce it.

In this study, the α-amylase inhibitory activity, α-glucosidase inhibitory activity, pancreatic lipase inhibitory activity, and Xanthine Oxidase inhibitory activity of the fruiting body extracts of 5 varieties of Agaricus bisporus (AB) were confirmed. First, the α-amylase inhibitory activity of AB12, AB13, AB18, AB34, and AB40 methanol extracts was lower than that of acarbose, a positive control, in all concentration ranges. The α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of the AB40, AB13, and AB12 methanol extracts at the extract concentration of 1.0 mg/mL was 80.5%, 81.3%, and 78.5%, respectively, similar to that of acarbose, a positive control. The pancreatic lipase inhibitory activity of the methanol extract of Agaricus bisporus fruiting body was significantly lower than that of the positive control orlistat in the concentration range of 50 ∼ 1.000 (mg/mL). The Xanthine Oxidase inhibitory activity was 0.5 ∼ 8.0 mg/mL of each extract, which was significantly lower than that of the positive control allopurinol in the same concentration range. However, the Xanthine Oxidase inhibitory activity of AB13 and AB40 at 8.0 mg/mL was about 70%, which was higher than that of other mushrooms. In conclusion, five kinds of Agaricus bisporus fruiting bodies seem to have inhibitory effects on enzymes such as α-amylase, α-glucosidase, pancreatic lipase, and Xanthine Oxidase that degrade starch and protein. In particular, it has an inhibitory effect and a reduction effect on xanthine oxidase that causes gout, so it is expected that it can be developed and used as a food or health supplement with health functional properties through future research.

Lentinula edodes is an edible mushroom that is rich in polysaccharides, glucan, and lentinan. It is famous for its earthy, sweet, umami flavor, and is used in various foods all over the world. Although Lentinula edodes does not carry out photosynthesis with light, its fruit body development is regulated by light. In this study, we analyzed the morphological changes of L. edodes strain Sanjo701ho and identified the global gene expression patterns using EdgeR of fruit body development under blue light. The phenotype analysis under different light sources revealed that the pileus diameter grew, while the stipe length was suppressed under blue light. To understand the changes in the transcriptome under different light sources in L. edodes, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), KOG functional categories, and KEGG pathways were used and compared to the no-light condition. Lignocellulose, CAZyme, and transcription factor classified DEGs (differentially expressed genes) were identified to better understand the significant DEGs affected by light sources in the synthesis, metabolism, and recognition of complex carbohydrates. Six glycoside hydrolases (GHs), four auxiliary activities (AAs), three carbohydrate esterases (CEs), and glycosyltransferases (GTs) were identified as upregulated in the CAZyme DEGs. Furthermore, four β-glucosidase, one glucose oxidase, and one multicopper oxidase-related gene for lignocellulolytic genes were upregulated in the blue light condition, and AT_hook transcription factor, CBFD_NFYB_HMF transcription factor, HMG_box transcription factor, and fungal specific transcription factor were upregulated in the blue light condition. This study helps us understand fruit body development in mushroom-breeding programs.

To increase coverage of protein identification of an Agaricus bisporus fruiting body, we analyzed the crude protein fraction of the fruiting body by using a shotgun proteomics approach where 7 MudPIT (Multi-Protein identification Technology) runs were conducted and the MS/MS spectra from the 7 MudPIT runs were merged. Overall, 3093 non-redundant proteins were identified to support the expression of those genes annotated in the genome database of Agaricus bisporus. The physicochemical properties of the identified proteins, i.e., wide pI value range and molecular mass range, were indicative of unbiased protein identification. The relative quantification of the identified proteins revealed that K5XI50 (Aldedh domain-containing protein) and K5XEW1 (Ubiquitin-like domain-containing protein) were highly abundant in the fruiting body. Based on the information in the Uniprot (Universal Protein Resource) database for A. bisporus, only approximately 53% of the 3093 identified proteins have been functionally described and approximately 47% of the proteins remain uncharacterized. Gene Ontology analysis revealed that the majority of proteins were annotated with a biological process, and proteins associated with coiled-coil (12.8%) and nucleotide binding (8.21%) categories were dominant. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genome analysis revealed that proteins involved in biosynthesis of secondary metabolites and tyrosine metabolism were enriched in a fruiting body of Agaricus bisporus, suggesting that the proteins are associated with antioxidant metabolites.

This study was conducted to confirm the expression patterns of genes involved in stress resistance by comparing the expression patterns of genes expressed after sodium chloride (NaCl) treatment in Pleurotus ostreatus (PO) cultivation. To confirm this, as a result of checking different gene expressions for the untreated group and the NaCl 1% and 2% treated group, a total of 12,460 gene expression differences were confirmed. There were 275 and 397 genes with increased expression in the 2.0% and 1.0% NaCl treated group and 400 and 247 genes with reduced expression in the 1.0% and 2.0% NaCl treated group, respectively. Among the genes whose expression was confirmed in DEG, qRT-PCR was performed on six genes to confirm the expression pattern of the genes affecting the mycelium structure. The DEG results showed that a putative aldo-keto reductase of akor3, Alpha-1,4 glucan phosphorylase of PLEOSDRAFT_1058949, and heme-thiolate peroxidase of HTP1 were up-regulated and that glycoside hydrolase family 92 protein of PLEOSDRAFT_1063499 were down-regulated, and the qRT-PCR showed the same results. However, hydrophobin of Hydph16 and pleurotolysin B of plyB were up-regulated in the qRT-PCR results while down-regulated in the DEG results. From the above results, it is judged that NaCl ultimately inhibits growth by inhibiting the formation of the skeleton constituting the mycelium and the physiological activity within the cell.