Culture Schizophyllum commune

Growth of Schizophyllum commune

Strains are generally grown at temperatures of 25-30°C in the dark in climate cabinets.

Strains grow about 1 cm per day, but this can vary greatly, depending on strain, medium (SCM is faster than SMM) and temperature.

Plates can be placed in plastic boxes with a lid that keep the air humid, but doesn’t seal the plates completely. Alternatively, use a climate chambers with humidity control.

You can play around with the speed of growth by changing the temperature. For instance, if mating type crosses are not yet perfectly visible, the plates can be left of the bench overnight to get a few more mm growth.

Plates can be stored at 4°C for many months. As long as there are no infections of the plates, strains from over a 3 years old can be sub-cultured without obvious phenotypic changes, even when the plate is completely dried out (though I did not test this!).

Many Schizophyllum strains are capable of growth at 4°C so put parafilm around the plate to avoid cross fertilizations.

Dikaryon and Monokaryon

Dikaryons generally grow faster than monokaryons.

Dikaryons grown in the dark grow in a similar fashion to monokaryons, i.e. homogeneous with smooth edges.

In the light (continuous or with light-dark rhythm) the edges of dikaryons grow rugged and fructification can occur.