Studies on basic biological characters of Wolfiporia cocos
茯苓基本生物学特性研究

Morphological characters, optimal growth and development conditions of mycelia, fruit bodies and spores of Wolfiporia cocos were observed. The mycelia of Wolfiporia cocos were confirmed as polykaryotic septate mycelia without clamp connection. The majority of spores were dikaryotic, and the ratio of dikaryotic spores, monokaryotic spores and nuclear-free spores was 87.2%, 4.7% and 8.1% respectively. In the mating test, protoplasts from the same strain or different strains grew harmoniously with each other, all matings of spores from the same strain generated antagonism lines, among them, the minority of matings formed flabelliform region in the junction and the antagonism line disappeared in a short time. All matings of spores between different strains generated barrages. On the basis of the result, it is supposed that the two nuclei in the spores of Wolfporia cocos are heterogeneous and complementary, a single spore could germinate and develop into an individual. Wolfiporia cocos is likely to be a secondary homothallism fungus.