Three new lanostane-type triterpenes from the epidermis of Wolfiporia cocos

Wolfiporia cocos is commonly used as a traditional Chinese medicine for its diuretic, tonifying, and invigorating effects on the spleen. However, the epidermis of W. cocos is discarded as scrap during harvesting because of its low price, resulting in a great waste of resources and environmental pollution. In this work, the epidermis of W. cocos was studied and three new lanostane triterpenoids were isolated. The structures were determined using NMR and HRESIMS, with absolute configurations established by comparison of the calculated and experimental ECD spectra. The three new compounds were evaluated for their antimicrobial activities in vitro against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. None of the tested compounds showed inhibition against these three strains of indicator microbes at a concentration of 128 μg/ml. This study provides a reference for further medicinal development and the utilization of the epidermis of W. cocos.

First report on the regulation and function of carbon metabolism during large sclerotia formation in medicinal fungus Wolfiporia cocos

The medicinal fungus Wolfiporia cocos colonizes and then grows on the wood of Pinus species, and utilizes a variety of Carbohydrate Active Enzymes (CAZymes) to degrades wood for the development of large sclerotia that is mostly built up of beta-glucans. Some differentially expressed CAZymes were revealed by comparisons between the mycelia cultured on potato dextrose agar (PDA) and sclerotia formed on pine logs in previous studies. Here, different profile of expressed CAZymes were revealed by comparisons between the mycelia colonization on pine logs (Myc.) and sclerotia (Scl.b). To further explore the regulation and function of carbon metabolism in the conversion of carbohydrates from Pine species by W. cocos, the transcript profile of core carbon metabolism was firstly analyzed, and it was characterized by the up-regulated expression of genes in the glycolysis pathway (EMP) and pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) in Scl.b, as well as high expression of genes in the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA) in both Myc. and Scl.b stages. The conversion between glucose and glycogen and between glucose and β-glucan was firstly identified as the main carbon flow in the differentiation process of W. cocos sclerotia, with a gradual increase in the content of β-glucan, trehalose and polysaccharide during this process. Additionally, gene functional analysis revealed that the two key genes (PGM and UGP1) may mediate the formation and development of W. cocos sclerotia possibly by regulating β-glucan synthesis and hyphal branching. This study has shed light on the regulation and function of carbon metabolism during large W. cocos sclerotium formation and may facilitate its commercial production.

Bioinformatics Analysis, Expression Profiling, and Functional Characterization of Heat Shock Proteins in Wolfi-poria cocos

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) play critical roles in regulating different mechanisms under high-temperature conditions. HSPs have been identified and well-studied in different plants. However, there is a lack of information about their genomic organization and roles in medicinal plants and fungi, especially in Wolfi-poria cocos (W. cocos). We identified sixteen heat shock proteins (HSPs) in W. cocos and analyzed in terms of phylogenetic analysis, gene structure, motif distribution patterns, physiochemical properties, and expression comparison in different strains. Based on phylogenetic analysis, HSPs were divided into five subgroups (WcHSP100, WcHSP90, WcHSP70, WcHSP60, and WcsHSP). Subgroups WcHSP100s, WcHSP90s, WcHSP70s, WcHSP60, and WcsHSPs were further divided into 3, 2, 3, 1, and 6 subfamilies, respectively. Moreover, the expression profiling of all HSP genes in five strains of W. cocos under different temperature extremes revealed that expression of most HSPs were induced by high temperature. However, every subfamily showed different expression suggesting distinctive role in heat stress tolerance. WcHSP70-4, WcHSP90-1, and WcHSP100-1 showed the highest response to high temperature stress. Heterologous expression of WcHSP70-4, WcHSP90-1, and WcHSP100-1 genes in Escherichia coli enhanced survival rate of E. coli during heat stress. These findings suggest the role of W. cocos heat shock genes in the high temperature stress tolerance.

ResNet and MaxEnt modeling for quality assessment of Wolfiporia cocos based on FT-NIR fingerprints

As a fungus with both medicinal and edible value, Wolfiporia cocos (F. A. Wolf) Ryvarden & Gilb. has drawn more public attention. Chemical components' content fluctuates in wild and cultivated W. cocos, whereas the accumulation ability of chemical components in different parts is different. In order to perform a quality assessment of W. cocos, we proposed a comprehensive method which was mainly realized by Fourier transform near-infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopy and ultra-fast liquid chromatography (UFLC). A qualitative analysis means was built a residual convolutional neural network (ResNet) to recognize synchronous two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2DCOS) images. It can rapidly identify samples from wild and cultivated W. cocos in different parts. As a quantitative analysis method, UFLC was used to determine the contents of three triterpene acids in 547 samples. The results showed that a simultaneous qualitative and quantitative strategy could accurately evaluate the quality of W. cocos. The accuracy of ResNet models combined synchronous FT-NIR 2DCOS in identifying wild and cultivated W. cocos in different parts was as high as 100%. The contents of three triterpene acids in Poriae Cutis were higher than that in Poria, and the one with wild Poriae Cutis was the highest. In addition, the suitable habitat plays a crucial role in the quality of W. cocos. The maximum entropy (MaxEnt) model is a common method to predict the suitable habitat area for W. cocos under the current climate. Through the results, we found that suitable habitats were mostly situated in Yunnan Province of China, which accounted for approximately 49% of the total suitable habitat area of China. The research results not only pave the way for the rational planting in Yunnan Province of China and resource utilization of W. cocos, but also provide a basis for quality assessment of medicinal fungi.

Identification of geographical origin and different parts of Wolfiporia cocos from Yunnan in China using PLS-DA and ResNet based on FT-NIR

INTRODUCTION

Wolfiporia cocos, as a kind of medicine food homologous fungus, is well-known and widely used in the world. Therefore, quality and safety have received worldwide attention, and there is a trend to identify the geographic origin of herbs with artificial intelligence technology.

OBJECTIVE

This research aimed to identify the geographical traceability for different parts of W. cocos.

METHODS

The exploratory analysis is executed by two multivariate statistical analysis methods. The two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2DCOS) images combined with residual convolutional neural network (ResNet) and partial least square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) models were established to identify the different parts and regions of W. cocos. We compared and analysed 2DCOS images with different fingerprint bands including full band, 8900-6850 cm^-1 , 6300-5150 cm^-1 and 4450-4050 cm^-1 of original spectra and the second-order derivative (SD) spectra preprocessed.

RESULTS

From all results: the exploratory analysis results showed that t-distributed stochastic neighbour embedding was better than principal component analysis. The synchronous SD 2DCOS is more suitable for the identification and analysis of complex mixed systems for the small-band for Poria and Poriae cutis. Both models of PLS-DA and ResNet could successfully identify the geographical traceability of different parts based on different bands. The 10% external verification set of the ResNet model based on synchronous 2DCOS can be accurately identified.

CONCLUSION

Therefore, the methods could be applied for the identification of geographical origins of this fungus, which may provide technical support for quality evaluation.

Influence of Radio Frequency Heating on the Pasteurization and Drying of Solid-State Fermented Wolfiporia cocos Products

Rice bran and soybean residue are high in nutrients and active ingredients. They are used as media in the solid-state fermentation of Wolfiporia cocos. They not only reduce raw material costs, but also raise the economic value and applications of soybean residues and rice bran. After 30 days of fermentation, the moisture content (w.b.) of the W. cocos product was approximately 40%, requiring it to be pasteurized and dried later. The objective of this research is to use radio frequency (RF) rapid heating technology to pasteurize and dry the solid-state fermented product. A 500 g bag of solid-state fermented W. cocos product took only 30 and 200 s at the RF electrode gap of 15 cm to pasteurize and reduce the moisture content (w.b.) below 15%, respectively; therefore, the methods can be used instead of the traditional 60 min autoclave sterilization and 100 min hot air drying at 45 °C. After RF treatment, the fermented W. cocos product was white, indicating that browning was prevented; the product contained 5.03% mycelium, 9.83% crude polysaccharide, 4.43% crude triterpene, 3.54 mg gallic acid equivalent/g dry weight (DW) of total polyphenols, and 0.38 mg quercetin equivalent/g DW of flavonoid contents and showed a good antioxidant capacity.

New Lanostane-Type Triterpenes with Anti-Inflammatory Activity from the Epidermis of Wolfiporia cocos

A chemical study on the epidermis of cultivated edible mushroom Wolfiporia cocos resulted in the isolation and identification of 46 lanostane triterpenoids, containing 17 new compounds (1-17). An experimental determination of their anti-inflammatory activity showed that poricoic acid GM (39) most strongly inhibited NO production in LPS-induced RAW264.7 murine macrophages with an IC₅₀ value at 9.73 μM. Furthermore, poricoic acid GM induced HO-1 protein expression and inhibited iNOS and COX2 protein expression as well as the release of PGE₂, IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells. Mechanistically, poricoic acid GM suppressed the phosphorylation of the IκBα protein, which prevented NF-κB from entering the nucleus to lose transcriptional activity and inhibited the dissociation of Keap1 from Nrf2, thereby activating Nrf2 into the nucleus to regulate antioxidant genes. Furthermore, the MAPK signaling pathway may play a significant role in poricoic acid GM-induced elimination of inflammation. This work further confirms that lanostane triterpenoids are key ingredients responsible for the anti-inflammatory properties of the edible medicinal mushroom W. cocos.

Fruit body formation and intra-species DNA polymorphism in Japanese Wolfiporia cocos strains

Poria, the dried sclerotium of Wolfiporia cocos, is a medicinal mushroom that is widely used in traditional Japanese medicine. The fruit body of W. cocos is rarely found in the natural environment in Japan, therefore an optimized technique for fruit body formation is essential for producing new strains through crossbreeding and for biological research. Here, we developed a cultivation technique for fruit body formation of W. cocos using three strains collected from different areas of Japan. When mycelia were cultured on sawdust-based medium after liquid medium culture, all strains successfully formed fruit bodies as a brown honeycomb-like structure. Furthermore, we analyzed single nucleotide polymorphisms of the three strains using the STE3-like pheromone receptor protein gene, STE3.2, and found a genetic marker for discriminating one strain from the others. The results are expected to promote extensive studies on crossbreeding and domestic production of W. cocos.

The Traditional Usages, Chemical Components and Pharmacological Activities of Wolfiporia cocos: A Review

As an endemic species,Wolfiporia cocos (F.A. Wolf) Ryvarden & Gilb. is widely distributed, such as in China, Korea, Japan, and North America, which have had a dual-purpose resource for medicines and food for over 2000 years. The applications of W. cocos were used to treat diseases including edema, insomnia, spleen deficiency, and vomiting. What's more, there have been wide uses of such edible fungi as a function food or dietary supplement recently. Up until now, 166 kinds of chemical components have been isolated and identified from W. cocos including triterpenes, polysaccharides, sterols, diterpenes, and others. Modern pharmacological studies showed that the components hold a wide range of pharmacological activities both in vitro and in vivo, such as antitumor, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, anti-oxidant, and antidepressant activities. In addition, present results showed that the mechanisms of pharmacological activities were closely related to chemical structures, molecular signaling paths and the expression of relate proteins for polysaccharides and triterpenes. For further in-depth studies on this fungus based on the recent research status, this review provided some perspectives and systematic summaries of W. cocos in traditional uses, chemical components, pharmacological activities, separation and analysis technologies, and structure-activity relationships.

Draft Genome Sequence of the Reference Strain of the Korean Medicinal Mushroom Wolfiporia cocos KMCC03342

Wolfiporia cocos is a wood-decay brown rot fungus belonging to the family Polyporaceae. While the fungus grows, the sclerotium body of the strain, dubbed Bokryeong in Korean, is formed around the roots of conifer trees. The dried sclerotium has been widely used as a key component of many medicinal recipes in East Asia. Wolfiporia cocos strain KMCC03342 is the reference strain registered and maintained by the Korea Seed and Variety Service for commercial uses. Here, we present the first draft genome sequence of W. cocos KMCC03342 using a hybrid assembly technique combining both short- and long-read sequences. The genome has a total length of 55.5 Mb comprised of 343 contigs with N50 of 332 kb and 95.8% BUSCO completeness. The GC ratio was 52.2%. We predicted 14,296 protein-coding gene models based on ab initio gene prediction and evidence-based annotation procedure using RNAseq data. The annotated genome was predicted to have 19 terpene biosynthesis gene clusters, which was the same number as the previously sequenced W. cocos strain MD-104 genome but higher than Chinese W. cocos strains. The genome sequence and the predicted gene clusters allow us to study biosynthetic pathways for the active ingredients of W. cocos.

Genomic and Transcriptomic Insight of Giant Sclerotium Formation of Wood-Decay Fungi

Many fungi form persistent and dormant sclerotia with compact hardened mycelia during unfavorable circumstances. While most of these sclerotia are small in size, Wolfiporia cocos, a wood-decay fungus, grows into giant sclerotia, which are mainly composed of polysaccharides of linear (1→3)-β-D-glucans. To explore the underlying mechanism of converting sophisticated wood polysaccharides for biosynthesis of highly homogenized glucans in W. cocos, we sequenced and assembled the genome of a cultivated W. cocos strain (WCLT) in China. The 62-Mb haploid genome contains 44.2% repeat sequences, of which, 48.0% are transposable elements (TEs). Contrary to the genome of W. cocos from North America, WCLT has independently undergone a partial genome duplication (PGD) event. The large-scale TE insertion and PGD occurrence overlapped with an archeological Pleistocene stage of low oxygen and high temperature, and these stresses might have induced the differences in sclerotium due to geographical distribution. The wood decomposition enzymes, as well as sclerotium-regulator kinases, aquaporins, and highly expanded gene families such as NAD-related families, together with actively expressed 1,3-β-glucan synthase for sclerotium polysaccharides, all have contributed to the sclerotium formation and expansion. This study shall inspire further exploration on how fungi convert wood into simple glucans in the sclerotium of W. cocos.

Aroma and catechin profile and in vitro antioxidant activity of green tea infusion as affected by submerged fermentation with Wolfiporia cocos (Fu Ling)

In response to the increasing interest of western consumers in high antioxidant activity of green tea but their low acceptance of its green odor, we employed a new starter culture, Wolfiporia cocos to tune flavor of green tea infusion. After submerged fermentation for 17 h, W. cocos changed the characteristic green odor to an attractive floral, jasmine-like, and slightly citrus-like flavor while preserving most of in vitro antioxidant activity. By application of mSBSE-GC-MS-O combined with sensorial tests, the formed pleasant aroma was mainly attributed to methyl anthranilate (OAV 802), linalool (OAV 190), 2-phenylethanol (OAV165), and geraniol (OAV 118). Concurrently, the catechin profile determined by UHPLC-MS showed diverse reduction rates (10-50%) for the individual catechins after fermentation. Nevertheless, up to 80% of in vitro antioxidant activity in DPPH assay was preserved. Overall, our findings provide an innovative approach to naturally flavor green tea while retaining the antioxidant activity.

Geographical traceability and multielement analysis of edible and medicinal fungi: Taking Wolfiporia cocos (F.A. Wolf) Ryvarden and Gilb. as an example

Different geographical environment has a certain influence on the accumulation of fungi elements and chemical components. However, our knowledge is limited to elucidate the fungi elements in response to heterogeneous environmental and the quality differences among different habitats. Here, multielement analysis, FTIR spectrum, and feature-level fusion technique combined with chemometrics were used to study Wolfiporia cocos from different geographical areas, different sampling sites and different altitude sources. From the results, (1) there is significant difference in element content of samples from different sampling sites and no positive correlation with geographical ranges. (2) There is a correlation between elevation and elements, and relatively low elevation (<1,800 m) is conducive to the enrichment of elements. (3) From the perspective of elements, the W. cocos in Yuxi have relatively better quality. (4) FTIR and feature-level models can well realize origin identification. The SVM models are better than the PLS-DA models, and the feature-level model is better than the single FTIR models. In summary, this study demonstrated that the developed method was reliable and could realize the genuineness evaluation and origin identification of W. cocos. The results have implications for the establishment of the technology system of geographical traceability and the development of high-quality geographical indication products of W. cocos.

Distinguishing Homokaryons and Heterokaryons in Medicinal Polypore Mushroom Wolfiporia cocos (Agaricomycetes) Based on Cultural and Genetic Characteristics

The sclerotia of Wolfiporia cocos are a kind of traditional medicine and food with excellent benefits and are widely used in China, Japan, and other Asian countries. The mating system of fungi is not only of practical importance for breeding but also has profound effects on genetic variability and molecular evolution. However, the lack of clamp connections in W. cocos increases the difficulty of research on mating systems. In this study, homokaryons and heterokaryons were distinguished by comparing the characteristics of culture, fruiting tests, and molecular markers, which was further demonstrated by k-mer analysis based on Illumina sequencing. Uninucleate, binucleate, and nuclei-free condition basidiospores of W. cocos were observed, and binucleate basidiospores were the most predominant. Brown-type colonies, slow growth rates in both PDA medium and sawdust substrate, and neutral pH after the growth of mycelia and unfruiting were found to be the morphological and growth characteristics of homokaryotic strains. Primers SSR37 and 38 were screened to identify homokaryons. K-mer analysis based on Illumina sequencing exhibited different heterozygous ratios for homokaryons and heterokaryons. The results revealed that pseudo-homothallism was the predominant mode of reproduction in the Chinese population of W. cocos, and heterothallism also existed in all probability. This study will be helpful for the cross-breeding of this precious medicinal mushroom and for understanding its evolution and population structure.

The Wolfiporia cocos Genome and Transcriptome Shed Light on the Formation of Its Edible and Medicinal Sclerotium

Wolfiporia cocos (F. A. Wolf) has been praised as a food delicacy and medicine for centuries in China. Here, we present the genome and transcriptome of the Chinese strain CGMCC5.78 of W. cocos. High-confidence functional prediction was made for 9277 genes among the 10,908 total predicted gene models in the W. cocos genome. Up to 2838 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified to be related to sclerotial development by comparing the transcriptomes of mycelial and sclerotial tissues. These DEGs are involved in mating processes, differentiation of fruiting body tissues, and metabolic pathways. A number of genes encoding enzymes and regulatory factors related to polysaccharide and triterpenoid production were strikingly regulated. A potential triterpenoid gene cluster including the signature lanosterol synthase (LSS) gene and its modified components were annotated. In addition, five nonribosomal peptide synthase (NRPS)-like gene clusters, eight polyketide synthase (PKS) gene clusters, and 15 terpene gene clusters were discovered in the genome. The differential expression of the velevt family proteins, transcription factors, carbohydrate-active enzymes, and signaling components indicated their essential roles in the regulation of fungal development and secondary metabolism in W. cocos. These genomic and transcriptomic resources will be valuable for further investigations of the molecular mechanisms controlling sclerotial formation and for its improved medicinal applications.

Characterization of Two Mitochondrial Genomes and Gene Expression Analysis Reveal Clues for Variations, Evolution, and Large-Sclerotium Formation in Medical Fungus Wolfiporia cocos

Wolfiporia cocos, a precious mushroom with a long history as an edible food and Asian traditional medicine, remains unclear in the genetic mechanism underlying the formation of large sclerotia. Here, two complete circular mitogenomes (BL16, 135,686 bp and MD-104 SS10, 124,842 bp, respectively) were presented in detail first. The salient features in the mitogenomes of W. cocos include an intron in the tRNA (trnQ-UUG²), and an obvious gene rearrangement identified between the two mitogenomes from the widely geographically separated W. cocos strains. Genome comparison and phylogenetic analyses reveal some variations and evolutional characteristics in W. cocos. Whether the mitochondrion is functional in W. cocos sclerotium development was investigated by analyzing the mitogenome synteny of 10 sclerotium-forming fungi and mitochondrial gene expression patterns in different W. cocos sclerotium-developmental stages. Three common homologous genes identified across ten sclerotium-forming fungi were also found to exhibit significant differential expression levels during W. cocos sclerotium development. Most of the mitogenomic genes are not expressed in the mycelial stage but highly expressed in the sclerotium initial or developmental stage. These results indicate that some of mitochondrial genes may play a role in the development of sclerotium in W. cocos, which needs to be further elucidated in future studies. This study will stimulate new ideas on cytoplasmic inheritance of W. cocos and facilitate the research on the role of mitochondria in large sclerotium formation.

The development of an efficient RNAi system based on Agrobacterium-mediated transformation approach for studying functional genomics in medical fungus Wolfiporia cocos

Genetic transformation methods reported for Wolfiporia cocos are limited. In this study, we describe an efficient RNA interference (RNAi) system based on Agrobacterium-mediated transformation approach in W. cocos for the first time. Actively growing mycelial plugs were used as recipients for transformation using endogenous orotidine-5'-phosphate decarboxylase gene (URA3) as both a selective marker and a silencing gene, under the control of the dual promoters of Legpd and Leactin from Lentinula edodes and the single promoter of Wcgpd from W. cocos, respectively. The results showed that both the two kinds of promoters effectively drive the expression of URA3 gene, and the URA3-silenced transformants could be selected on CYM medium containing 5'-fluoroorotic acid. In addition, silencing URA3 gene has no effect on the growth of W. cocos hyphae. The incomplete silencing of the URA3 locus was also observed in this study. This study will promote further study on the mechanism of substrate degradation, sclerotial formation, and biosynthesis network of pharmacological compounds in W. cocos.

Comparative Analysis of the Characteristics of Triterpenoid Transcriptome from Different Strains of Wolfiporia cocos

The dried sclerotia of Wolfiporia cocos (Schwein.) Ryvarden & Gilb., a traditional Chinese medicine, has triterpenoid as its main active component. Breeding high-yield triterpenoid in W. cocos is an important research topic at present. We screened out two monosporal strains from the same W. cocos 5.78, high-yielding DZAC-Wp-H-29 (H) and low-yielding DZAC-Wp-L-123 (L), and cultured mycelia for 17 days, 34 days, and 51 days, respectively. Transcriptome analysis results showed that triterpenoid synthesis is closely related to gene expression in triterpenoid synthesis pathways (hydroxymethyl glutaryl-CoA reductase (HMGCR), farnesyl diphosphate synthase (FDPS), 4-hydroxybenzoate polyprenyltransferase (COQ2), C-8 sterol isomerase (ERG2), sterol O-acyltransferase (ACAT), tyrosine aminotransferase (TAT), torulene dioxygenase (CAO2), and sterol-4alpha-carboxylate 3-dehydrogenase (erg26)), and is limited by the expression of enzyme M20 combined with domain protein peptide (Pm20d2), aryl-alcohol dehydrogenase (norA), ISWI chromatin-remodeling complex ATPase ISW2, GroES-like protein (adh), cytochrome P450 (ftmP450-1), and unknown proteins unigene0001029 and unigene0011374. In addition, maintaining high triterpenoid accumulation in W. cocos may require a stable membrane structure, so the accumulation ability may be related to the high synthesis ability of sterols. The low accumulation of triterpenoid in W. cocos may be due to the products of key enzymes increasing flow to other pathways.

Determination of the Five Main Terpenoids in Different Tissues of Wolfiporia cocos

Wolfiporia cocos is a fungus containing triterpenoids and is widely used as an herbal medicine. However, it is unknown whether its main triterpenoid contents differ in different tissues. In this study, we identified dehydrotumulosic acid, polyporenic acid C, pachymic acid, dehydrotrametenolic acid, and dehydroeburicoic acid as the five main triterpenoids in W. cocos. We also systematically profiled the contents and distribution of these main triterpenoids in different tissues of W. cocos. High contents of all five triterpenoids were found in the surface layer of W. cocos. Intriguingly, we noted that the highest contents of the five triterpenoids were found in the surface layer of the sclerotium grown under pollution-controlled cultivation; the second-highest contents were found in the surface layer of the natural sclerotium. These results indicate that environmentally friendly cultivation of the sclerotium of W. cocos is a practical way to increase the productivity of W. cocos. In addition, our findings suggest that the triterpenoids may contribute to the pharmacological activity of W. cocos, and the surface layer of sclerotium in W. cocos might be a promising raw material for applications in health care and the development of functional medical products.

1H NMR based metabolite profiling for optimizing the ethanol extraction of Wolfiporia cocos

Metabolite profiling of Wolfiporia cocos (family: Polyporaceae) had been much advancement in recent days, and its analysis by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has become well established. However, the highly important trait of W. cocos still needs advanced protocols despite some standardization. Partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) was used as the multivariate statistical analysis of the ¹H NMR data set. The PLS-DA model was validated, and the key metabolites contributing to the separation in the score plots of different ethanol W. cocos extract. ¹H NMR spectroscopy of W. cocos identified 33 chemically diverse metabolites in D₂O, consisting of 13 amino acids, 11 organic acids 2 sugars, 3 sugar alcohols, 1 nucleoside, and 3 others. Among these metabolites, the levels of tyrosine, proline, methionine, sarcosine, choline, acetoacetate, citrate, 4-aminobutyrate, aspartate, maltose, malate, lysine, xylitol, lactate threonine, leucine, valine, isoleucine, uridine, guanidoacetate, arabitol, mannitol, glucose, and betaine were increased in the 95% ethanol extraction sample compared with the levels in other samples, whereas level of acetate, phenylalanine, alanine, succinate, and fumarate were significantly increased in the 0% ethanol extraction sample. A biological triterpenoid, namely pachymic acid, was detected from different ethanol P. cocos extract using ¹H-NMR spectra were found in CDCl₃. This is the first report to perform the metabolomics profiling of different ethanol W. cocos extract. These researches suggest that W. cocos can be used to obtain substantial amounts of bioactive ingredients for use as potential pharmacological and nutraceuticals agents.

The Kinome of Edible and Medicinal Fungus Wolfiporia cocos

Wolfiporia cocos is an edible and medicinal fungus that grows in association with pine trees, and its dried sclerotium, known as Fuling in China, has been used as a traditional medicine in East Asian countries for centuries. Nearly 10% of the traditional Chinese medicinal preparations contain W. cocos. Currently, the commercial production of Fuling is limited because of the lack of pine-based substrate and paucity of knowledge about the sclerotial development of the fungus. Since protein kinase (PKs) play significant roles in the regulation of growth, development, reproduction, and environmental responses in filamentous fungi, the kinome of W. cocos was analyzed by identifying the PKs genes, studying transcript profiles and assigning PKs to orthologous groups. Of the 10 putative PKs, 11 encode atypical PKs, and 13, 10, 2, 22, and 11 could encoded PKs from the AGC, CAMK, CK, CMGC, STE, and TLK Groups, respectively. The level of transcripts from PK genes associated with sclerotia formation in the mycelium and sclerotium stages were analyzed by qRT-PCR. Based on the functions of the orthologs in Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (a sclerotia-formation fungus) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the potential roles of these W. cocos PKs were assigned. To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first identification and functional discussion of the kinome in the edible and medicinal fungus W. cocos. Our study systematically suggests potential roles of W. cocos PKs and provide comprehensive and novel insights into W. cocos sclerotial development and other economically important traits. Additionally, based on our result, genetic engineering can be employed for over expression or interference of some significant PKs genes to promote sclerotial growth and the accumulation of active compounds.

An Efficient PEG/CaCl₂-Mediated Transformation Approach for the Medicinal Fungus Wolfiporia cocos

Sclerotia of Wolfiporia cocos are of medicinal and culinary value. The genes and molecular mechanisms involved in W. cocos sclerotial formation are poorly investigated because of the lack of a suitable and reproducible transformation system for W. cocos. In this study, a PEG/ CaCl₂-mediated genetic transformation system for W. cocos was developed. The promoter Pgpd from Ganoderma lucidum effectively drove expression of the hygromycin B phosphotransferase gene in W. cocos, and approximately 30 transformants were obtained per 10 μg DNA when the protoplast suspension density was 10(6) protoplasts/ml. However, no transformants were obtained under the regulation of the PtrpC promoter from Aspergillus nidulans.

De novo assembly and transcriptome analysis of sclerotial development in Wolfiporia cocos

Wolfiporia cocos Ryvarden et Gilbertson, a well-known medicinal fungus in the Basidiomycetes, is widely distributed in East Asia. Its dried sclerotium, which is known as Fuling in China, has been used as a traditional crude drug in Chinese traditional medicine for thousand years. However, little is known about how the sclerotium is developed at the genetic level. In this study, the de novo sequencing of sclerotia of W. cocos (S1_initial stage; S2_developmental stage and S3_mature stage) was carried out by illumina HiSeq 2000 technology. 27,438 unigenes were assembled from ~30Gbp raw data, and 12,093 unigenes were significantly annotated. The analysis of expression profiles during development returned 304 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), which were clustered into four different groups according to their expression trends. Especially for the maturation stage (S3), the sclerotium exhibited a markedly different expression profile from other stages. We further showed that peroxisome, unsaturation of fatty acids and degradation pathway were respectively prevalent in S1, S2 and S3 stages as evidenced by enrichment analysis. To our knowledge, this study represents the first report of sclerotial development transcriptomics in W. cocos. The obtained results provide novel insights into the developmental biology of the sclerotia, which is helpful for future studies about cultivation and breeding of W. cocos.

Development of crossbreeding high-yield-potential strains for commercial cultivation in the medicinal mushroom Wolfiporia cocos (Higher Basidiomycetes)

Wolfiporia cocos is a well-known medicinal mushroom, and its dried sclerotia has been widely used as a traditional medicine in China, Japan, and other Asian countries for centuries. However, long-term asexual reproduction of the breeding system in W. cocos results in a current universal degeneration of cultivated strains. To develop a W. cocos breeding program that will benefit commercial cultivation, we previously developed an optimum method for indoor induction of W. cocos fruiting bodies and clarified the nature of preponderant binuclear sexual basidiospores. In this paper, we first show that the majority of W. cocos single-spore isolates cannot form sclerotium in field cultivation. We then investigated the possibility of breeding new strains by crossbreeding. Three types of mating reactions were observed in both intra-strain pairings and inter-strain pairings, and a total of fifty-five hybrids were selected by antagonistic testing and allele-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Field cultivation of hybrids demonstrated that some hybrids can form sclerotium via two cultivated methods. Two new high-yield strains were identified. This report will stimulate new thinking on W. cocos and promote further extensive studies on crossbreeding in W. cocos, a new topic related to the development of more efficient protocols for the discrimination of hybrids in W. cocos.

De Novo Analysis of Wolfiporia cocos Transcriptome to Reveal the Differentially Expressed Carbohydrate-Active Enzymes (CAZymes) Genes During the Early Stage of Sclerotial Growth

The sclerotium of Wolfiporia cocos has been used as an edible mushroom and/or a traditional herbal medicine for centuries. W. cocos sclerotial formation is dependent on parasitism of the wood of Pinus species. Currently, the sclerotial development mechanisms of W. cocos remain largely unknown and the lack of pine resources limit the commercial production. The CAZymes (carbohydrate-active enzymes) play important roles in degradation of the plant cell wall to provide carbohydrates for fungal growth, development, and reproduction. In this study, the transcript profiles from W. cocos mycelium and 2-months-old sclerotium, the early stage of sclerotial growth, were specially analyzed using de novo sequencing technology. A total of 142,428,180 high-quality reads of mycelium and 70,594,319 high-quality reads of 2-months-old sclerotium were obtained. Additionally, differentially expressed genes from the W. cocos mycelium and 2-months-old sclerotium stages were analyzed, resulting in identification of 69 CAZymes genes which were significantly up-regulated during the early stage of sclerotial growth compared to that of in mycelium stage, and more than half of them belonged to glycosyl hydrolases (GHs) family, indicating the importance of W. cocos GHs family for degrading the pine woods. And qRT-PCR was further used to confirm the expression pattern of these up-regulated CAZymes genes. Our results will provide comprehensive CAZymes genes expression information during W. cocos sclerotial growth at the transcriptional level and will lay a foundation for functional genes studies in this fungus. In addition, our study will also facilitate the efficient use of limited pine resources, which is significant for promoting steady development of Chinese W. cocos industry.