Radiation Sensitivity of Basidiospore and Mycelium in Pleurotus ostreatus

To assess the effects of gamma-ray (Co-60) on radiation sensitivity and genetic similarity of the basidiospore and mycelium in oyster mushroom, Pleurotus ostreatus, the D$_{10}$ values and RAPD patterns were analysed. Three strains were isolated from basidiospores (PO-Bl, -B2, and - B3 from 2 kGy irradiation group) and five strains from mycelia (PO-Ml, -M2 from 1 key, PO-M3 from 2 kGy, and PO-M4 and -M5 from 2+1 key irradiation group). The D$_{10}$ values of basidiospore and mycelium of P. Preurotus ostreatus were 1,250 Gy and 500 Gy, respectively. The growth rates of the eight strains on the five media were various and the activities of extracellular chitinases of them were generally higher than those of the control. By the gamma-ray radiation, 22-25% of genetic similarities were changed in the basidiospore strains and 23-36% of them in the mycelium strains. From these results, it seems that the basidiospore could be more radio-resistant than the mycelium of P. ostreatus and that the genetic similarity of the mycelium of P ostrentus could be changed easier than that of the basidiospore by the gamma-ray radiation.ion.