Lepista sordida is a type of high-quality rare edible and medicinal mushroom, and its research boom is just beginning. More than 80 million tons of grain crop residues are produced each year in Heilongjiang Province. To realize the exploration and utilization of wild L. sordida mushrooms and also provide a theoretical support for the high-value utilization of these resources in Heilongjiang Province, we evaluated the cultivation of L. sordida mushrooms using rice straw, corncob, and soybean straw as substrates. L. sordida grew on all three substrates, and the biological efficiency and yield of the mushrooms grown on soybean straw and corncob were 32.33 ± 1.78% and 4.20 ± 0.23 kg m⁻², and 30.15 ± 0.93% and 3.92 ± 0.12 kg m⁻², respectively, which increased by 9.38% and 2.08% compared with that on the rice straw substrate with 3.84 ± 0.12 kg m⁻² and 29.56 ± 0.89%. The time it took for the mycelia to colonize and initiate primordia on the soybean straw substrate was 22.33 ± 0.58 d and 19.67 ± 0.58 d, respectively, which was delayed by 2 d and 3 d compared with that on the rice straw substrate with 20.67 ± 2.08 d and 16.33 ± 0.58 d, respectively. The fruiting bodies grown on corncob and soybean straw substrates were relatively larger than those on the rice straw substrate. The highest amount of crude protein was 57.38 ± 0.08 g 100 g⁻¹, and the lowest amount of crude polysaccharide was 6.03 ± 0.01 g 100 g⁻¹. They were observed on mushrooms collected from the corncob substrate. The contents of the heavy metal mercury, lead, arsenic, and cadmium in the fruiting bodies grown on each substrate were within the national safety range.

Mudanjiang is a major producer of black wood ear (Auricularia heimuer) mushrooms in China. It has been estimated that more than 1.5 million tons of spent substrates of A. heimuer (SSA) are produced each year. Most of these are discarded or burned and have become an important source of pollution, which urgently merits research to find appropriate uses for them. To explore the feasibility of SSA as a substrate for cultivating Lepista sordida mushrooms, experiments were conducted to assess the effects of the addition of 0, 40%, 73%, and 98% SSA on the days required for the mycelia to fully colonize the substrate and initiate primordia, biological efficiency (BE), yield, and composition of the chemical biomass of the L. sordida fruiting bodies. The yield of fruiting bodies with 0, 40%, 73%, and 98% SSA supplementation for three flushes was 3.90 ± 0.74 kg m⁻², 4.06 ± 0.77 kg m⁻², 4.03 ± 0.62 kg m⁻², and 4.51 ± 0.65 kg m⁻², respectively. The addition of 98% SSA significantly delayed the number of days for the mycelia to fully colonize and form primordia by 6 and 3 d, respectively. This treatment also significantly increased the yield and BE by 15.64% compared with that of the control group. The crude polysaccharide content of 25.64 ± 0.38 g 100 g⁻¹ was higher in the samples grown on the 98% SSA substrate, which was shown to increase by 78.93% compared with that of the control substrate with 73% corn straw (14.33 ± 0.03 g 100 g⁻¹). The content of crude protein of 51.10 ± 0.08 g 100 g⁻¹ was higher in the samples grown on the 40% SSA substrate, which increased by 11.14% compared with the protein content of the control group. This study reveals that SSA would be a good substrate for the cultivation of L. sordida and is an efficient, promising, and cost-effective substrate additive that can improve the quality and yield of these mushrooms, while substantially reducing the problems of disposing of SSA.

Sarcomyxa edulis is a characteristic low-temperature, edible mushroom in Northeast China. It has a delicious taste and rich nutritional and medicinal value. The artificial cultivation of S. edulis has been increasing in recent years. However, the number of S. edulis varieties is scarce, and strain degradation is a serious issue, affecting the yield and quality of S. edulis. Therefore, we collected 21 wild strains of S. edulis (Y1–21) in this study, aiming to develop strains of S. edulis. Five strains without antagonistic reaction were eliminated via the antagonism test, and the remaining sixteen strains were identified as S. edulis using internal transcribed spacer (ITS) marker identification. The mycelial growth rate, mildew resistance, fruiting body yield, agronomic traits, and nutrient content of the 16 strains were determined. The results demonstrate that Y12, Y13, Y14, and Y15 exhibited a rapid mycelial growth rate (6.43–6.8 mm·day⁻¹). Their colony density was moderate; their edges were neat; and their colonies were leathery and had obvious pigmentation. Moreover, they exhibited strong mildew resistance and a low Trichoderma contamination rate (<40%). Their fruiting body yield (281.15–342.03 g) and biological efficiency (56.23–68.40%) were high. Their fruiting body shape was good. Their polysaccharide and crude protein contents were higher, while their crude fiber, ash, and crude fat contents were lower. Overall, these four S. edulis strains exhibited high yield, excellent traits, and good quality for commercial production and food production with high nutrient contents. This study provides a foundation for the further cross-breeding and matrix improvement of S. edulis.

Sarcomyxa edulis is a characteristic low-temperature, edible mushroom in Northeast China. It has a delicious taste and rich nutritional and medicinal value. S. edulis can undergo explosive fruiting, neat fruiting, and unified harvesting, making it suitable for factory production. The molecular mechanisms underlying fruiting body development in S. edulis remain poorly understood. This study employed transcriptome analysis to compare the post-ripening mycelium (NPM) and primordial fruiting bodies (PRMs) of the thermostable S. edulis strain PQ650759, which uniquely forms primordia under constant temperature. A total of 4862 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) (|log2(fold change)| ≥ 1) were identified and found to be predominantly enriched in biological processes such as cell wall organization, DNA replication, and carbohydrate metabolism. KEGG pathway analysis revealed significant enrichment in 20 metabolic pathways, including mismatch repair, yeast cell cycle, and starch/sucrose metabolism. Ten candidate genes (e.g., SKP1, MRE11, GPI) linked to cell cycle regulation, DNA repair, and energy metabolism were randomly selected and prioritized for functional analysis. Quantitative PCR validation confirmed the reliability of transcriptome data, with expression trends consistent across both methods. Our findings provide critical insights into the molecular regulation of fruiting body development in S. edulis and establish a foundation for future mechanistic studies and strain optimization in industrial cultivation.

Tyromyces chioneus fruiting bodies could potentially be used for food and medicine; however, we still have limited knowledge about their optimal cultivation conditions and nutritional quality. In this study, we cultivated a wild strain of T. chioneus collected from Sandaoguan National Forest Park in Mudanjiang City. We compared the growth and yield of fruiting bodies on a sawdust substrate alone or in combination with corncobs, soybean straw, or corn straw. We also determined the contents of crude protein, crude polysaccharide, dietary fiber, total flavonoids, and other nutrients in the fruiting bodies and the ability of T. chioneus to degrade cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin when grown on a sawdust–corncob substrate. T. chioneus produced two flushes of fruiting bodies on all tested substrates, but the mycelial colonization time, primordial initiation time, and time interval between flushes varied among the substrates, with ranges of 28.00 ± 1.00–30.67 ± 0.58 d, 9.33 ± 0.58–11.67 ± 0.58 d, and 11.33 ± 0.5–13.00 ± 1.00 d, respectively. The sawdust–corncob substrate resulted in a substantially higher biological efficiency (BE) of 35.14 ± 0.93% compared to the previously reported 19.15%, along with the highest yield of 196.80 ± 5.21 g bag⁻¹. The contents of total flavonoids, crude protein, dietary fiber, and calcium of the fruiting bodies produced on the sawdust–corncob substrate were 708 mg 100 g⁻¹, 16.30 g 100 g⁻¹, 18.82 g 100 g⁻¹, and 554 mg kg⁻¹, respectively. The degradation rates of lignin and cellulose in the sawdust–corncob substrate by T. chioneus were 33.93% and 37.72%, respectively. This study suggests that sawdust–corncob could be a promising substrate to cultivate T. chioneus.