Improvement of fruiting body production in Cordyceps militaris by molecular assessment

Cordyceps militaris is a heterothallic ascomycetous fungus that has been cultivated as a medicinal mushroom. This study was conducted to improve fruiting body production by PCR assessment. Based on single-ascospore isolates selected from wild and cultivated populations, the conserved sequences of alpha-BOX in MAT1-1 and HMG-BOX in MAT1-2 were used as markers for the detection of mating types by PCR. PCR results indicated that the ratio of mating types is consistent with a theoretical ratio of 1:1 (MAT1-1:MAT1-2) in wild (66:70) and cultivated (71:60) populations. Cross-mating between the opposite mating types produced over fivefold more well-developed fruiting bodies than self- or cross-mating between strains within the same mating type. This study may serve as a valuable reference for artificial culturing of C. militaris and other edible and medicinal mushrooms and may be useful to develop an efficient process for the selection, domestication, and management of strains for industrial-scale production.