title: Intergeneric hybridization between Pleurotus ostreatus and Schizophyllum commune by PEG-induced protoplast fusion.
abstract: Intergeneric hybridization between Pleurotus ostreatus and Schizophyllum commune was studied using PEG-induced fusion. The fusion of protoplasts from auxotrophic mutant strains resulted in the formation of fusion hybrids in the frequencies of 3.6 to 7.3×10(-5). Most of these fusion hybrids were monokaryotic and sterile and no heterokaryosis occurred. Most fusants showed a significantly higher nuclear DNA content when compared to parental strains and no diploids (parent 1 genome plus parent 2 genome) were found. Some fusion hybrids revealed both parental fragments in nuclear and mitochondrial rDNA PCR profiles. AP-PCR (Arbitrarily-primed Polymerase Chain Reaction) fingerprints also indicated that most of the fusion products were recombinant hybrids.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Stellenbosch, 7600, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: S T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Chang