Shiitake Mushrooms and Pilobolus [by JESK]

Shiitake Mushrooms and Pilobolus [by JESK]

Group Members: Emma Brasseur, Shane Hall, Jessica Roth, and Karina Yu

Shiitake Mushroom Classification:

Kingdom: Fungi

Division: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

Family: Marasmiaceae

Genus: Lentinula

Species: L. edodes

On April 4 (our very first lab), we were given a shiitake mushroom log to grow. We soaked it in water for two hours and then covered it with its humidity tent. We were then given instructions to water it two to three times a day. This was very good advice, but our group must have taken it

too seriously, because by day 16, our mushrooms were hopelessly drowned in all the water we made it drink (the sogginess is not very visible in Figure 1). The mushrooms were also extremely mushy by that time, and none of us dared taste them.  Due to the log being over watered, there was actually mold that grew on the bottom of the bin.

As seen in Figures 1 and 2, we had 7 lovely mushrooms grow, though only on one side of the log, which we found unusual (our explanation for this was that it must have had sunlight only on one side). In Figure 1, the mushroom seen above the largest mushroom did not grow a long stalk away from the log. In fact due to the small stalk the cap of the mushroom began to grow onto the log. Also, most of the mushrooms have a light brown cap, while the largest mushroom has a deep brown cap.

On Day 16 we proceeded to cut off one of our mushrooms to inspect under the microscope. The mushroom’s gills are seen in Figure 4 and its stalk can be observed in Figure 3. We could not really find any apparent hyphae in the slides we made, partially due to the fact that we chose too small a mushroom to inspect (we didn’t want to ruin our largest mushroom). There are, however, some visible hypha in our gill slide (Figure 4), but no visible hypha in figure 3. We did find a strange blue line in our stalk slide, but that still remains a mystery ………

     

Figure 1: Shiitake Mushrooms on Day 16

Figure 2: Shiitake Mushrooms from Different Angle (Day 16)

Figure 3: Shiitake Mushroom Stock (with Mysterious Blue Line)

Figure 4: Mushroom Gills

Pilobolus Crystallinus:

Pilobolus Classification:

Domain: Eukaryote

Kingdom: Fungi

Division: Zygomycota

Class: Mucoromycotina

Order: Mucorales

Family: Pilobolaceae

Genus: Pilobolus

Species: P. crystallinus

Pilobolus fungi grow towards the light, where they then release their spores. When we did our pilobolus culture, we made a hole at the top of our cup where light would get in. This was done so the fungus would only grow in one direction.  As seen in Figure 7, there were multiple spores released toward the hole.

In Figure 6, the stalk, the water vesicle (the clear oblong shape after the stalk), and the black sporanguim are visible under a dissecting microscope. When the water vesicle has built up enough water, it shoots the spores upward to be carried away by the wind.  Also seen in the figure are the mycelia growing in the dung as well as some of the spores.

Similarities and Differences of Pilobolus and Shiitake:

• Shiitake don’t shoot spores purposefully at light sources, pilobolus do
• Mushroom spores are found in their gills, pilobolus are on top of the water vesicle
• Shiitake grows on a log of wood, while Pilobolus grows on dung
• Pilobolus have mainly asexual reproduction
• Shiitake has gills while Pilobolus does not
• Shiitake is in the division Basidiomycota, Pilobolus is in Zygomycota
• Pilobolus have crystals on their sporangia
• Humans shouldn’t eat pilobolus, but they can eat shiitake mushrooms
• Shiitake mushrooms are much larger than Pilobolus

Figure 5: We “Love” Our Pilobolus

Figure 6: Pilobolus Under Dissecting Microscope

Figure 7: Spores From Pilobolus Dispersed In Cup