Lion's Mushroom & Pilobolus by MCDC

<LION’S MANE MUSHROOM PATCH & PILOBOLUS CULTURE KIT EXPERIENCE BY MCDC >

Group 4 (Dayeon Jung, Wenyi Fu , Mariam Elias, Conner Laursen)

LION’S MANE MUSHROOM PATCH

On April 4, 2016, our group set up our own Lion’s Mane mushroom patch by following the lab procedure. The growth of our mushroom lasted for more than two weeks in total. At the first one and two weeks, we did not see any mushrooms grew up. We asked other groups for advice; different groups gave the different suggestion, but all of our groupmates agreed that the water for the mushrooms was not enough. Therefore, we tried to spray the mushroom with plenty amount of water every day; eventually, those tiny mushrooms from figure number one appeared on April 20.  Although there were only a small amount of the mushrooms grew out. Those mushrooms are Lion’s Mane mushroom.

Figure 1: Lion's Mane Mushrooms DAY 16

To have a better view of the mushroom, we tried to display our mushroom samples by few small pictures. Lion’s mane mushroom comes from Hericiaceae family and Hericium genus. As you can see, these mushrooms were white, and their shapes were different to the other common mushrooms that people can find in the markets. Although the culture we produced does not entirely display this, fully grown lion’s mane cultures have teeth like structure in place of the traditional mushroom cap. These teeth are where spores are released from. This mushroom, along with others in the Hericium genus has the most pronounced teeth. Lion’s mane has a plethora of medical benefits including neuroprotection and assistance with nerve growth, and treatment for depression/ anxiety. Lion’s mane mushrooms are relatively rare because they naturally grow near the tops of trees rather than the bottom where most mushroom fruit bodies grow.

Reference

"Lion's Mane Mushroom - Nootropic Review of Effects, Dosage, and More | Braintropic." Braintropic. Web. 29 Apr. 2016.

"The Lion's Mane Mushroom." Lion's Mane Mushroom. Web. 29 Apr. 2016.

Figure 2: Amplification Parts of Lion's Mane Mushrooms

Kingdom: Fungi

Division: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Russulales

Family: Hericiaceae

Genus: Hericium

The figures below are the mushroom sample slides under 40X magnification. As you can see, it looks like a thin filament. There were nothing special being observed. Our group got this result in two weeks, and the mushroom we took was different than other groups.

Figure 3: The slides of Shiitake Mushroom with 40X Magnification(from another group)

Kingdom: Fungi

Division: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

Family: Marasmiaceae

Genus: Lentinula

Species: L. edodes

PILOBOLUS CULTURE KIT

On April 4, 2016, we also set up another system called Pilobolus culture kit, which was for observing how Pilobolus crystallinus explode their spores toward the sun. Our group followed the instructions from Carolina Biology Supply named “First Laboratory.” Different fungi have different traits; Pilobolus crystallinus have phototropism to adapt some specialized environments.

Figure 4: Set up Pilobolus Culture Kit

Domain: Eukaryote

Kingdom: Fungi

Division: Zygomycota

Class: Mucoromycotina

Order: Mucorales

Family: Pilobolaceae

Genus: Pilobolus

Type species: Pilobolus crystallinus

Figure 5: black sporangium

Figure 6: Black Sporangia Under The Microscope

• What are the two phyla that you observed?

            Pilobolus and lion’s mane mushroom

• Compare and contrast the two species of fungi

The Pilobolus shoot their spores out toward the sun because their spores are on top of the water vesicle while the Lion Mane mushrooms do not; for Lion Mane mushroom, their spores are found in their gills; Shiitake grows on a log of wood while Pilobolus grows on dung

Pilobolus have mainly asexual reproduction

Pilobolus have crystals on their sporangia

Hericium Erinaceus (also called lion's mane mushroom, bearded tooth mushroom, satyr's beard, Bearded Hedgehog Mushroom, pom pom mushroom, or Bearded Tooth Fungus)

All species of Hericium are considered saprotrophs, meaning they feed on dead material. Hericium Erinaceus is also a parasite, meaning it attacks and kills living trees. They're found in late summer to fall on dead or dying hardwood trees, especially oak and beech. They grow in North America, China, Japan, and Europe. This doesn't look like your typical mushroom. It has no real cap and no stem. Instead, it sports long spines (greater than 1 cm) coming out from a single clump. Their color is mainly white, although they become brown or yellow with age. Their spore print is white as well. This is not a common species of mushroom, so finding one may be a rare treat. They grow higher up on trees rather than at the base, which means that they're also often missed during a mushroom hunt. Several species in the Hericium genus are referred to as "lion's mane" in North America. This article is specifically about Hericium Erinaceus, but you may also hear about these types of mushrooms: - See more at http://www.mushroom-appreciation.com/lions-mane.html#sthash.xetCTK6F.dpuf

• Compare life cycles between Lion’s mane mushroom and Pilobolus

Lion's mane mushroom family is Hericiacease, and it is also called Bearded Tooth Mushroom. This species lives as a network of cells (mycelium) within dead trees as a saprobe, and in living trees as a parasite, digesting and decomposing the wood. When ready to reproduce, the mycelium develops the beardlike "fruiting body" that emerges from the wood—this is the reproductive structure. The life cycle of Pilobolus begins with a black sporangium that has been discharged onto a plant substrate such as grass. A herbivorous animal such as a horse then eats the substrate, unknowingly consuming the sporangium as well. The Pilobolus sporangium survives the passage through the gastrointestinal tract without germinating and emerges with the excrement. Once outside its host, spores within the sporangium germinate and grow as a mycelium within the excrement, where it is a primary colonizer. Later, the fungus fruits to produce more spores.pores are provided in the "teeth" and are released to begin new mycelia elsewhere.

Reference

"Bearded Tooth (Lion's Mane; Hedgehog Mushroom)." Missouri's Fish, Forests, and Wildlife. Web. 29 Apr. 2016.

"Pilobolus." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Web. 29 Apr. 2016.

• How successful were the cultures and why do you think they did/didn't grow well?

Our mushroom culture developed fruiting bodies much later than other cultures, maybe from the lack of water. Our culture eventually grew fruit bodies, and everything was alright.

• What does that show you about the ecology of these different fungi?

Some fungi require different amounts of sunlight, water, humidity, etc. to grow properly which explains the late blooming of our culture.

• What are some cool things that you observed?

The lion mane mushroom was very cool for us to observe because our group had a particular type of mushroom. Also, the Pilobolus culture kit shows us the spores did explode toward to the sun.

• What are some unexpected things that you observed?

At the first two weeks, we did not have any mushrooms. Therefore, we considered our group failed in setting up the shiitake mushroom patch. However, after spraying more water and wait for two more days, we saw our mushroom. This is unexpected.

• Did you think this was a useful assignment?

We believe that this is a useful task because I learned how to set up a better environment to grow mushrooms.

• Was it fun?

It was fun although we did not have the opportunity to taste our mushroom. We were able to find the result every week, and we enjoyed each time when we check our mushroom. When we finally get the mushroom growing on the second week, we were so happy.

• Did you learn something?

We learned that how to set up the mushroom and the Pilobolus culture kit. We also observed the growing of the mushroom in real life. We also saw the spores for the first time.

• Would you recommend it for next year's students?

We will recommend it to next year's students because those labs are funny; also, we can learn to work as a group.