Ganoderma sessile is a fast polysaccharide producer among Ganoderma species

Abstract

The selection of fast growing and high yield producing strains is required to satisfy themarket demand on fungal food supplements. To that aim, three strains deposited in ourcollection as G. lucidum and G. oregonense were screened towards polysaccharideproduction and biomass yield. Ganoderma strains deposited as G. lucidum wereidentified as G. sessile and G. lingzhi by nuc rDNA ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 (ITS) andtranslation elongation factor 1-α (TEF1-α) phylogenies. The identity of G. oregonensewas confirmed by molecular phylogeny and biogeography. Additionally, mycelialantagonism confirmed species differentiation and strains were further distinguished bymorphology and protein profiles. Biomass and polysaccharide yield of G. sessile wereclearly different from G. lingzhi and G. oregonense in both liquid culture and solid statefermentation. The maximum polysaccharide yield (4.52 ± 0.83 g L-1) for G. sessile wasobtained from submerged cultures at day 9. G. sessile also achieved the highest lineargrowth in lignocellulosic solid substrates. Consequently, basidiomata were successfullyobtained by solid state fermentation in polypropylene bags, while G. lingzhi and G.oregonense mushrooms were not produced in artificial solid substrates. G. sessile, aspecies frequently collected in America, showed to be a promising polysaccharideproducer for the manufacture of dietary supplements.