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Schizophyllum commune is a mushroom-forming fungus notable for its distinctive fruiting bodies with split gills. It is used as a model organism to study mushroom development, lignocellulose degradation and mating type loci. It is a hypervariable species with considerable genetic and phenotypic diversity between the strains. In this study, we systematically phenotyped 16 dikaryotic strains for aspects of mushroom development and 18 monokaryotic strains for lignocellulose degradation. There was considerable heterogeneity among the strains regarding these phenotypes. The majority of the strains developed mushrooms with varying morphologies, although some strains only grew vegetatively under the tested conditions. Growth on various carbon sources showed strain-specific profiles. The genomes of seven monokaryotic strains were sequenced and analyzed together with six previously published genome sequences. Moreover, the related species Schizophyllum fasciatum was sequenced. Although there was considerable genetic variation between the genome assemblies, the genes related to mushroom formation and lignocellulose degradation were well conserved. These sequenced genomes, in combination with the high phenotypic diversity, will provide a solid basis for functional genomics analyses of the strains of S. commune., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Inactivation of flbA in Aspergillus niger results in thinner cell walls, increased cell lysis, abolished sporulation, and an increased secretome complexity. A total of 36 transcription factor (TF) genes are differentially expressed in ΔflbA. Here, seven of these genes (abaA, aslA, aslB, azf1, htfA, nosA, and srbA) were inactivated. Inactivation of each of these genes affected sporulation and, with the exception of abaA, cell wall integrity and protein secretion. The impact on secretion was strongest in the case of ΔaslA and ΔaslB that showed increased pepsin, cellulase, and amylase activity. Biomass was reduced of agar cultures of ΔabaA, ΔaslA, ΔnosA, and ΔsrbA, while biomass was higher in liquid shaken cultures of ΔaslA and ΔaslB. The ΔaslA and ΔhtfA strains showed increased resistance to H 2 O 2 , while ΔaslB was more sensitive to this reactive oxygen species. Together, inactivation of the seven TF genes impacted biomass formation, sporulation, protein secretion, and stress resistance, and thereby these genes explain at least part of the pleiotropic phenotype of ΔflbA of A. niger., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Mycelia of saprotrophic basidiomycetes can cover large areas in nature that are typified by their heterogeneous nutrient availability. This heterogeneity is overcome by long distance transport of nutrients within the hyphal network to sites where they are needed. It is therefore key to be able to study nutrient transport and its underlying mechanisms. An IRDye-conjugate was used for the first time for imaging transport in fungi. A method was set up for time-lapse, high spatial resolution infrared imaging of IRDye-labelled deoxyglucose (IRDye-DG) in Schizophyllum commune and Agaricus bisporus. Scanning imaging visualised the tracer in individual hyphae as well as deeper tissues in mushrooms (mm-cm depth). The advantage of using fluorescence scanning imaging of IRDye in contrast to radiolabelled tracers studies, is that a higher spatial resolution and higher sensitivity (244 fg/ml) can be obtained. Moreover, it has a large field of view (25 × 25 cm) compared to microscopy (µm-mm range), allowing relatively fast and detailed imaging of large dimension samples., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In both natural and man-made environments, microorganisms live in mixed populations, while in laboratory conditions monocultures are mainly used. Microbial interactions are often described as antagonistic, but can also be neutral or cooperative, and are generally associated with a metabolic change of each partner and cause a change in the pattern of produced bioactive molecules. A. niger and A. oryzae are two filamentous fungi widely used in industry to produce various enzymes (e.g. pectinases, amylases) and metabolites (e.g. citric acid). The co-cultivation of these two fungi in wheat bran showed an equal distribution of the two strains forming mixed colonies with a broad range of carbohydrate active enzymes produced. This stable mixed microbial system seems suitable for subsequent commercial processes such as enzyme production. XlnR knock-out strains for both aspergilli were used to study the influence of plant cell wall degrading enzyme production on the fitness of the mixed culture. Microscopic observation correlated with quantitative PCR and proteomic data suggest that the XlnR Knock-out strain benefit from the release of sugars by the wild type strain to support its growth., (Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Conidia of Aspergillus niger are produced on conidiophores. Here, maturation of conidia on these asexual reproductive structures was studied. Pigmented conidia that had developed on conidiophores for 2, 5, and 8days were similarly resistant to heat and were metabolically active as shown by CO 2 release and conversion of the metabolic probe Tempone. A total number of 645-2421 genes showed a ⩾2-fold change in expression when 2-day-old conidia were compared to 5- and 8-day-old spores. Melanin was extracted more easily from the cell wall of 2-day-old conidia when compared to the older spores. In addition, mannitol content and germination rate of the 2-day-old conidia were higher. Dispersal efficiency by water was lower in the case of the 8-day-old conidia but no differences were observed in dispersal by wind and a hydrophobic moving object. These data and the fact that only a minor fraction of the conidia on a conidiophore were dispersed in the assays imply that a single colony of A. niger releases a heterogeneous population of conidia. This heterogeneity would provide a selective advantage in environments with rapidly changing conditions such as availability of water., (Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)