Every grower would just love to know! Who wouldn't like to twiddle those knobs and have total control over the development of the crop... The dream of every grower is a predictable cultivation process. Knowing exactly when and what the harvest will produce in both quantity and quality. No more surprises in store. Well, dream on for the time being.

Pinning is the most crucial moment in the cultivation process. Determining the moment of pin formation, the number of pinheads and how they develop are the three major factors that make a success or failure of a harvest. Experienced growers know how to proceed for optimal results, but even the most experienced never have total control over the events. Fluctuating quality in the raw materials, diseases and pests, even the outside climate influences these indoor crops to tip the balance between a good and bad yield.

Questions

Do we really know what encourages mycelium to form strands, and then determine if pinheads are formed or develop? We are aware of a number of important influential climatic factors. But what happens in the mycelium or pinheads is still uncharted territory. The genetic material in the mycelium, pinheads and mushrooms is identical. It contains the blueprint or roadmap present in each cell that instructs the infant mushroom to turn into an adult mushroom and not into a rabbit -to take an absurd example. But how are the twists and turns on the map followed precisely during the various stages of development? And more importantly: who makes the decision to grab the wheel and change direction? Something we unfortunately know little about.

However, there are techniques available to see how this roadmap, the genetic material, in the mushroom works. The Microbiology faculty at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands has wide experience with these techniques. Head of the group is Professor Han Wösten, who has been working for years on a mould that occurs naturally on dead wood and produces fungi. This is called ‘the split gill fungus’ with the lovely Latin name of Schizophyllum commune. This mould also produces mushrooms under laboratory conditions. An ideal subject to study and hopefully to learn how mushroom formation is driven by genetic material.

PPO has excellent contacts with this group and we recently decided that the time had come to study the processes going on in mycelium when the actual decision is made to start forming pinheads. A subsidy was requested from the Technology Foundation (STW), part of the Ministry of Economic Affairs. STW funds research carried out at Universities. This subsidy was granted at the end of last year. Research will start this year.

The project

A four-year research project will be started in this group, with Dr. Luis Lugones at the head. The title clearly illustrates the purpose of this project: “Master switches of initiation of mushroom formation". An important aspect of the project is that, as well as the split gill fungus, mushrooms will also be studied. STW places great importance on the results of this type of project being applied in practice. The fact that the Netherlands is a major mushroom producer and the PPO is a link between fundamental research and its application played an important role in the decision to grant the funding. Support from the business community in the form of a declaration of support (VPN and CNC) also convinced the STW to finance this valuable research.

By investigating how genetic material is persuaded to change from vegetative growth into forming pinheads, it should be possible to pinpoint which environmental factors influence this process. This may allow the process to be manipulated to increase control. Which is exactly what growers want. By using two very different types of mushrooms in the research, it should become apparent if the main switches for pin formation are a general mechanism for all fungi forming mushrooms. This can also shed some light on mushroom species that we as yet can not cultivate, or with some difficulty.

The two types of mushrooms that will be subjected to the STW project to identify the ‘Master switches of initiation of mushroom formation’. Left the split gill fungus (Scizophyllum commune) and right the mushroom (Agaricus bisporus).