Summary: Commercial wheat straw/horse manure compost used for production of the cultivated mushroom Agaricus bisporus contains a fungal and actinomycete microbial biomass of some 1.5% before inoculation with A. bisporus. It has been shown that these mycelia can be used by A. bisporus as a sole source of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus. Mycelium of the thermophilic fungus Humicola insolens var. thermoidea, a major component of compost microbial biomass, was digested over a 28 d period by A. bisporus growing in liquid culture, as determined by light and electron microscopy. Mycelial walls of H. insolens var. thermoidea contained (by wt) 30% glucose, 22% glucosamine, 6-8% galactose, 2-3% mannose and traces of other sugars. Enzymes that possibly degrade fungal and actinomycete cell walls were produced by A. bisporus during growth on such mycelia, and activities of other extracellular enzymes involved in the decomposition of cytoplasmic contents were determined.
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