Investigation on the influence of mineral nutrition on the growth of the fungi Coniophora cerebella and Merulius lacrymans Fr.
Wazny, J.
Acta Soc Bot Pol 32(3): 575-608
1963
Accession: 024897795
Mineral composition of the fungi was determined by chemical and spectral analysis. Twenty-one elements were found: B, Na, Mg, Al, Si, P, K, S, Ca, Ti, V, Mn, Fe, Co, N, Cu, Zn, Mo, Ag, Ba and Pb; all except S were determined quantitatively. No essential differences were found in the content of individual elements in the species, there were great differences between mycelium and fruiting bodies; a majority of the elements occurred in great quantities in mycelium; fewer in fruiting bodies. In comparison with the mycelium, Ca content of the fruiting bodies was considerably smaller; Fe and Zn content almost twice as great. When growing on pine and spruce wood, both fungi took up all the elements from the substrate in quantities generally approximating 50% of their content in sound wood. The content of the elements was considerably higher in the fungi than in the wood on which they were growing. Mg, P, S, K, Ca, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cu, Zn, Mo, and Pb, on the base of quantitative analyses, were found to be necessary for the growth of both fungi. The required quantities of these elements ranged between 0.002 and 220 ppm. Supplementary investigations showed that Ca and Pb could be replaced by other elements in M. lacrymans. B, Al, Sc and Na proved unnecessary for both fungi. Some elements considered necessary showed, beyond a certain concentration, an inhibitory effect on the growth of mycelium. The need for Ni, Co and Pb in fungus nutrition is not mentioned previously in the literature. Optimum quantities of elements for growth were considerably less than their content in wood, proving that a wood substrate can satisfy fully the mineral requirements of C. cerebella and M. lacrymans. The surplus is probably concentrated in the protoplasm and cell walls of the hyphae in the form of water-insoluble compounds.