Reduction of organic and inorganic selenium compounds by the edible medicinal basidiomycete Lentinula edodes and the accumulation of elemental selenium nanoparticles in its mycelium.

We report for the first time that the medicinal basidiomycete Lentinula edodes can reduce selenium from inorganic sodium selenite (Se(IV)) and the organoselenium compound 1,5-diphenyl-3-selenopentanedione-1,5 (DAPS-25) to the elemental state, forming spherical nanoparticles. Submerged cultivation of the fungus with sodium selenite or with DAPS-25 produced an intense red coloration of L. edodes mycelial hyphae, indicating accumulation of elemental selenium (Se(0)) in a red modification. Several methods, including transmission electron microscopy (TEM), electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), and X-ray fluorescence, were used to show that red Se(0) accumulated intracellularly in the fungal hyphae as electron-dense nanoparticles with a diameter of 180.51±16.82 nm. Under designated cultivation conditions, shiitake did not reduce selenium from sodium selenate (Se(VI)).