Trait Variation between Two Wild Specimens of Pleurotus ostreatus and Their Progeny in the Context of Usefulness in Nematode Control

Abstract

Pleurotus ostreatus is one of the most widespread mushrooms in the world. It is a valuable and widely cultivated edible mushroom with nematicidal properties. The mycelium of this mushroom produces a toxin that paralyzes nematodes, after which the nematode becomes infected with the filament, resulting in its death. This feature can be put to practical use as a natural nematicidal agent. In this paper, we have described studies on two wild strains of P. ostreatus (PO1, PO2) and the monokaryotic progeny obtained from their fruiting bodies. Monokaryons were crossed with each other within the progeny of one strain (PO1xPO1; PO2xPO2) and of two different strains (PO2xPO1). The growth conditions, morphological and molecular characteristics, toxicity and ability to form hyphal knobs of the maternal strains, monokaryons and those obtained by crossing were studied. The toxicity of mycelium was tested against the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans. The results of the study allowed the selection of five progeny heterokaryotic mycelia with the best parameters useful for in-vitro control of nematodes.