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This study aimed to determine the antimicrobial activity of culture fluid and mycelial mass of selected Hericium strains from the IBK Mushroom Culture Collection (Kyiv, Ukraine) against bacteria and fungi, as well as to evaluate the potential of these mushrooms for biomass and extracellular polysaccharides production.

Understanding the impact of light on the physiology and metabolism of edible and medicinal mushrooms can step up the technologies aimed at obtaining bioactive compounds. The article presents data on the influence of low-intensity quasimonochromatic light on the biosynthetic activity of Hericium erinaceus edible medicinal mushrooms in vitro. An artificial lighting setup based on light-emitting diode (LED) arrays with wavelengths λ=470 nm (blue), λ=530 nm (green), and λ=650 nm (red) was used. An argon gas laser served as a coherent visible light source at a wavelength of 488 nm. The mycelium of H. erinaceus irradiation by low-intensity light at wavelengths of 488 nm, 470 nm, and 650 nm reduced the lag phase and increased the culture’s growth rate. The highest biomass yield (12.1 g/L) on the 12th day of cultivation was achieved with light irradiation at a wavelength of 488 nm. Irradiation of the mycelium of H. erinaceus in all used wavelength ranges led to an increase in the synthesis of polysaccharides and unsaturated fatty acids. The modes of irradiation with laser light λ=488 nm and LED λ=470 nm were the most effective.

Effective methods of preserving the gene pool of valuable edible and medicinal mushrooms are to maintain them in in vitro culture collections and to correctly identify and verify the preserved strains. It is necessary to consider not only the results of molecular genetic studies but also cultural, morphological and physiological characteristics as additional criteria. This article presents data on the colony and mycelial morphology, growth characteristics and temperature tolerance, and phylogenetical placement of four strains of edible and medicinal mushroom from the P. eryngii species complex received into the IBK Mushroom Collection as P. nebrodensis strains. All the studied strains are mesophiles with the fastest growth rate of 11.0 mm/day at 26°С and a lethal temperature of 40°С. In addition to common anastomoses, mycelial strands and clamp connections, the vegetative mycelium of the studied strains formed single colorless round excretory cells on the lateral hyphal ramifications. All cultures were able to form primordia and fruit bodies on agar media. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that all four strains do not belong to P. nebrodensis, but two of them, IBK 1947, 2035 are P. eryngii var. ferulae, and two strains, IBK 1855 and 1927, belong to P. tuoliensis (P. eryngii var. tuoliensis).