Isolation and Mycelial Cultivation Submerged of Phellinus sp.

Fruit bodies similar to the Phellinus sp. residing on the mulberry were collected at Yang-yang in Kang-won-do province and one strain of Phellinus sp. was isolated from the fruit bodies. For mass production of the isolated mycelia in a submerged culture, the culture conditions, medium composition, and the effect of various culture systems on the mycelial growth, were investigated. The morphological characteristics of the fruit body were as follows: covered with blackish to black and rough, lower surface with yellowish-brown to dull-brown and smooth, 5-7 cm thick and hard woody. Also, the pure cultured mycelia showed yellowish-brown color, capability of purplish-brown pigment production on the PDA plate media, no-formation of clamp-connection, much binding branch, and enzyme activities such as laccase, tyrosinase and peroxidase. Therefore, pure cultured strain was identified to be Phellinus sp. In the flask culture, the optimum culture conditions for the mycelial production were obtained after cultivation of 8 days at inoculum level of 5%(v/v), media volume of 70 mL, 150 rpm, initial pH 6, and temperature of . Optimum medium composition from the response surface analysis were determined to be glucose 12.12 g/L, sucrose 12.12 g/L, yeast extract 11.15 g/L, malt extract 11.15 g/L, 0.855 g/L and 0.855 g/L. The production of the mycelia after 4 and 8 days of cultivation was 1.95 and 9.89 g/L, respectively. The maximum specific growth rate and productivity were and 1.25 g/L/day, respectively. Among the three different culture systems for the growth of mycelia, the maximum mycelial dry weight of 7.5 g/L was obtained after cultivation of 4 days in the air-lift fermentor under aeration rate of 2.5 vvm. The maximum specific growth rate and productivity were and 1.9 g/L/day, respectively, which were about 1.7 and 4.2 times higher than those of flask culture.