Nuclear behavior in Coprinus comatus from Japan and estimation of the lifecycle

In order to elucidate the lifecycle of Coprinus comatus, we examined the number of nuclei in basidiospores, hyphal cells and oidia. Basidiospores isolated from the fruiting bodies of four Japanese strains were binucleate. In both primary and secondary mycelia, most of the cells were binucleate. In addition, oidia and oidiophores were observed for the first time in this mushroom and most of the oidia were binucleate. Based on these results, the lifecycle of C. comatus was inferred to be as follows. A homokaryotic binucleate basidiospore germinates and produces homokaryotic binucleate hyphae. After mating between compatible homokaryotic binucleate hyphae, a heterokaryotic binucleate secondary mycelium is produced. If environmental conditions are suitable for fruiting, homokaryotic binucleate basidiospores in the fruiting body are produced.