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Effects of mating-type ratio imbalance on the degeneration of Cordyceps militaris subculture and preventative measures

Summary

Cordyceps militaris is a medicinal fungus used in traditional Chinese medicine that has healing properties but degenerates quickly when repeatedly cultured in laboratories. This research found that the loss of genetic mating-type information during subculturing is the main cause of this degeneration. By separately culturing different genetic types and mixing them before production, or by using stable single genetic-type strains, farmers can maintain consistent quality fruiting bodies for harvest and medicinal use.

Background

Cordyceps militaris cultivation shows rapid degeneration during subculture, which significantly affects production stability. The fungus is a typical dipolar heterothallic ascomycete containing two mating-type genes (MAT1-1 and MAT1-2) required for sexual reproduction and fruiting body development.

Objective

This study investigated the mechanism of strain degeneration in Cordyceps militaris by analyzing mating-type ratios in production and wild-type strains, examining the effects of subculturing on fruiting in both original and single mating-type strains, and testing different mating-type ratio combinations.

Results

Loss or imbalance of mating types was the primary cause of rapid fruiting trait degeneration during subculture. The single mating-type jb-2 strain (MAT1-1 only) produced stable fruiting bodies without ascospores through the 11th generation. Production strains showed stability across various mating-type ratios (1:9 to 9:1), while wild-type xf-1 yield correlated positively with MAT1-2 proportion.

Conclusion

Separate subculturing of single mating-type mycelia and mixing before production effectively mitigates degeneration. For breeding, selecting strains containing both mating types insensitive to mating-type proportion ratios enhances subculture stability, while specific single-mating type strains like jb-2 are viable for large-scale production.
  • Published in:PeerJ,
  • Study Type:Experimental Study,
  • Source: PMC11243967, PMID: 39006009
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