A Novel Technique for Rejuvenation of Degenerated Caterpillar Medicinal Mushroom, Cordyceps militaris (Ascomycetes), a Valued Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Cordyceps militaris has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for many years, but its frequent degeneration during continuous maintenance in culture can lead to substantial commercial losses. In this study, a degenerated strain of C. militaris was obtained by subculturing a wild-type strain through 10 successive subcultures. The relative abundance of the 2 mating types seems to be out of balance in the degenerated strain. By cross-mating 4 single-ascospore isolates (2 for MAT 1-1 and 2 for MAT 1-2) from the degenerated strain, we were able to restore fruiting body production to wild-type levels. The rejuvenated strain not only produced well-developed fruiting bodies but also accumulated more cordycepin and adenosine than either the original wild-type strain or the degenerated strain. These new characteristics remained stable after 4 successive transfers, which indicates that the method used to rejuvenate the degenerated strain in this study is an effective approach.
Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Pest Control, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China; Department of Food and Biology, Xuzhou Institute of Technology, Xuzhou, China.
Anhui
A
Chen
Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Pest Control, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China.
Yulong
Y
Wang
Department of Food and Biology, Xuzhou Institute of Technology, Xuzhou, China.
Ying
Y
Shao
Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Pest Control, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China.
Bo
B
Huang
D000241:Adenosine / Q000378:metabolism*; D032661:Cordyceps / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D003839:Deoxyadenosines / Q000378:metabolism*; D048690:Fruiting Bodies, Fungal / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D049770:Genes, Mating Type, Fungal; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D012692:Serial Passage
D003839:Deoxyadenosines; C058120:cordycepin; D000241:Adenosine