Cultivating Matsutake, valuable edible fungi
2021-04-14
(Press-News.org) Costing anywhere from 15 to 70 dollars per mushroom depending on the quality, matsutake mushrooms are some of the most valuable edible fungi in the world. Revered for their delicate scent, matsutake mushrooms are cooked in rice or soups as an Autumn celebration delicacy in Japan. However, there is no way to cultivate matsutake mushrooms and naturally occurring habitats are decreasing with fewer forests conducive to their growth with the changing climate.
Corresponding author Professor Akiyoshi Yamada of Shinshu University's Department of Agriculture, Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, and Institute for Mountain Science with 9 other researchers set out to present concrete evidence that matsutake spores germinate, reach the roots of the host, and coexist to produce offspring that starts a new symbiosis.
When matsutake spores germinate, mycelia in the soil corresponding to their parents induce germination and form a genetically diverse population on the root system of the host. It is therefore hypothesized that the next generation can be created while maintaining a diverse pool.
With this novel experiment, matsutake mushrooms and Japanese red pine were cultured in a vessel, and spores collected from the fruiting bodies of matsutake mushrooms collected outdoors were inoculated to germinate in order to successfully establish a new hypha in the roots of Japanese red pine.
The researchers were successful in germinating the spore of matsutake by proving that artificially controlling the phenomenon of generational change of matsutake mushrooms in the natural world. They hope to establish an artificial cultivation technique for matsutake mushrooms in the forest.
Since this study introduces fresh matsutake spores into the experimental system, it is difficult to carry out this study unless there is a supply of matsutake nearby. In other words, it can be said that this research finding best utilized the location of the Faculty of Agriculture, Shinshu University to germinate the spore of matsutake, the most valuable wild edible mushrooms in the world.
INFORMATION:
Acknowledgements: Masamichi Ichikawa for the supply of fresh Tricholoma matsutake samples in the spore inoculation experiment, and Hitoshi Murata in Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute for the technical advice in DNA analyses. The members of Applied Mycology Laboratory, Shinshu University for their support of this study.
Funding: This study was supported in part by KAKENHI Grant Number 15H01751 from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), and a grant from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, "Technology development for the optimal use of forest resources."
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2021-04-14
As the countdown to the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic games reaches 100 days, plans to hold the games this summer must be reconsidered as a matter of urgency, argue experts in The BMJ today.
Kazuki Shimizu at the London School of Economics and Political Science and colleagues say huge uncertainty remains about the trajectory of the pandemic and they warn that international mass gathering events such as Tokyo 2020 "are still neither safe nor secure."
Instead, they say "we must accelerate efforts towards containing and ending the pandemic by maintaining ...
2021-04-14
Supplementation of cocoa powder in the diet of high-fat-fed mice with liver disease markedly reduced the severity of their condition, according to a new study by Penn State researchers, who suggest the results have implications for people.
Cocoa powder, a popular food ingredient most commonly used in the production of chocolate, is rich in fiber, iron and phytochemicals reported to have positive health benefits, including antioxidant polyphenols and methylxanthines, noted study leader Joshua Lambert, professor of food science in the College of Agricultural Sciences.
"While it is typically considered an indulgence food because of its high sugar and fat content, epidemiological and human-intervention ...
2021-04-14
TAMPA, Fla. (April 14, 2021)- The order in which your senses interact with food has a tremendous impact on how much you like it. That's the premise of a new study led by the University of South Florida (USF). The findings published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology show that food tastes better if you see it before smelling it.
Researchers came to this conclusion following four experiments involving cookies, fruit snacks and lemonade. In the first study, nearly 200 participants interacted with the food, each item wrapped in an opaque versus a transparent package. The ...
2021-04-14
For centuries, ivory was often used to make art objects. But to protect elephant populations, the ivory trade was banned internationally in 1989. To restore ivory parts of old art objects, one must therefore resort to substitute materials - such as bones, shells or plastic. However, there has not been a really satisfactory solution so far.
TU Wien (Vienna) and the 3D printing company Cubicure GmbH, created as a spin-off of TU Wien, have now developed a high-tech substitute in cooperation with the Archdiocese of Vienna's Department for the Care of Art and Monuments and Addison Restoration: the novel material "Digory" consists of synthetic resin and calcium phosphate particles. It is processed in a hot, liquid state and hardened in the 3D printer with UV ...
2021-04-14
International scientists from around the world are warning that chemical pollutants in the environment have the potential to alter animal and human behaviour.
A scientific forum of 30 experts formed a united agreement of concern about chemical pollutants and set up a roadmap to help protect the environment from behaviour altering chemicals. The conclusions of their work have been published today in a paper led by Professor Alex Ford, Professor of Biology at the University of Portsmouth, in Environmental Science and Technology. Until now the effect of chemical pollutants on wildlife has ...
2021-04-14
Metabolic bone disease is a common complication of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and involves a broad spectrum of disorders of mineral metabolism that result in both skeletal and extra-skeletal consequences.
A new special issue of Calcified Tissue International brings together a comprehensive series of state-of-the-art reviews which discuss key issues in CKD and mineral and bone disorders, known as CKD-MBD. Authored by a multidisciplinary group of leading international experts, the wide-ranging reviews aim to improve the understanding and management of CKD-MBD, and advance interdisciplinary knowledge.
Professors ...
2021-04-14
According to a Finnish study, the structure and function of the brain areas involved in emotions and their regulation are altered in both psychopathic criminal offenders and otherwise well-functioning individuals who have personality traits associated with psychopathy.
Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterised by persistent antisocial behaviour, impaired empathy, and bold, disinhibited and egotistical traits. However, similar antisocial traits are also common, yet less pronounced, with people who are well-off psychologically and socially. It is possible that the characteristics related to psychopathy form a continuum where only the extreme characteristics ...
2021-04-14
Bern's ice core researchers were already able to demonstrate in 2008 how the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has changed over the past 800,000 years. Now, using the same ice core from the Antarctic, the group led by Bernese climate researcher Hubertus Fischer shows the maximum and minimum values between which the mean ocean temperature has fluctuated over the past 700,000 years. The results of the reconstruction have just been published in the journal Climate of the Past.
The study's key findings: Mean ocean temperatures have been very similar over the last seven ice ages, averaging about 3.3 °C colder than the pre-industrial reference period, as already suggested by syntheses of deep water ...
2021-04-14
It is an open question to what extent protection against reinfection persists after overcoming a SARS-CoV-2 infection. The "Rhineland Study", a population-based study conducted by DZNE in the Bonn area, is now providing new findings in this regard. Blood samples taken last year indicate that an important component of immunity - the levels of specific neutralizing antibodies against the coronavirus - had dropped in most of the study participants with a previous infection after four to five months. In some, antibody titers even fell below the detection limit. These results, published in the scientific journal "Nature Communications", lay the groundwork for planned follow-up studies.
Between April ...
2021-04-14
Research breakthrough in understanding how neural systems process and store information.
A team of scientists from the University of Exeter and the University of Auckland have made a breakthrough in the quest to better understand how neural systems are able to process and store information.
The researchers, including lead author Dr Kyle Wedgwood from the University of Exeter's Living Systems Institute, have made a significant discovery in how a single cell can store electrical patterns, similar to memories.
They compared sophisticated mathematical modelling to lab-based experiments to determine how different parameters, such as how long it takes ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Cultivating Matsutake, valuable edible fungi
