Exogenous l-ascorbic acid regulates the antioxidant system to increase the regeneration of damaged mycelia and induce the development of fruiting bodies in Hypsizygus marmoreus.

Hypsizygus marmoreus is an important commercial edible fungus, but the lack of basic studies on this fungus has hindered further development of its commercial value. In this study, we found that the treatment of damaged vegetative mycelia with 1 mM l-ascorbic acid (ASA) significantly increased the antioxidant enzyme activities (GPX, GR, CAT and SOD) and antioxidant contents (GSH and ASA) and reduced the ROS levels (H2O2 and O2-) in mechanically damaged mycelia. Additionally, this treatment increased mycelial biomass. At the reproductive stage, our results demonstrated that the treatment of damaged H. marmoreus mycelia with 2.24 mM ASA significantly increased the antioxidant enzyme activities (GPX, GR, GST, TRXR and CAT), endogenous ASA contents and GSH/GSSG ratios in different developmental stages and significantly decreased the MDA and H2O2 contents. Furthermore, this study showed that the expression levels of the antioxidant enzyme genes were consistent with the enzyme activities. Damaged mycelia treated with ASA regenerated 2-3 d earlier than the control group and showed significantly enhanced fruiting body production. These results suggested that exogenous ASA regulated mycelia intracellular ASA content to increase mycelial antioxidant abilities, induce the regeneration of damaged mycelia and regulate the development of fruiting bodies in H. marmoreus.