Protoplast fusion betweenLentinula edodes andCoriolus versicolor.

Protoplast fusion between isoleucine-, arginine- and thymidine-requiring auxotroph (lle, Arg, Thy) ofLentinula edodes and arginine-requiring auxotroph (Arg) ofCoriolus versicolor has been achieved using 30% polyethylene glycol (M.W. 4000) in 10 mMCaCl(2)-glycine solution (pH 8.0). Fusion hybrids were selected in the 0.6 M sucrose supplemented minimal media on the basis of nutritional complementation with fusion frequency of 7.4x10(-6). The hybrids included both parental and non-parental types in colony morphology, growth rate and isozyme patterns. We succeeded inter-order protoplast fusion between the auxotrophs ofLentinula edodes and Coriolus versicolor overcoming the natural barriers of incompatibility. We examined the characteristics of the hybrids and clarified the fusion process using electron microscopy.