Yield improvement of the king oyster mushroom, Pleurotus eryngii, by transformation of its cellulase gene

A plasmid pCAMBIA1301 containing Pleurotus eryngii cellulase gene (PEcbh), under the control of Lentinus edodes glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (LEgpd) promoter, was constructed and used as an expression vector. The vector was transformed into the tissue of P. eryngii using Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation (ATMT) method and 4 transformants (PET1-4) were obtained. The positive transformants were confirmed by cultivation in media containing hygromycin and by PCR amplification of hygromycin B resistance-LEgpd promoter gene fragment. Unpredicted, cellulase specific activities of the transformants were not higher than those of the wild type. Mushroom cultivation was performed in the laboratory and the results revealed that the average biological efficiency of PET4 was significantly 1.52 times higher than those of the wild type.