Nuclear conditions of basidiospores and hyphal cells in the edible mushroom Oudemansiella aparlosarca

Oudemansiella aparlosarca is an edible mushroom possessing medicinal and health benefits. Although there are studies on the cultivation of O. aparlosarca, only a few studies have focused on its genetics and life cycle. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to identify the nuclear conditions of basidiospores and homokaryotic and heterokaryotic hyphal cells and to determine the influence of different nuclear conditions on basidiospore diameter in O. aparlosarca. Two parental strains: strain‐55 and strain‐81 were used. Staining of basidiospores and hyphal cells in the apical region was performed. We observed the following nuclear conditions: non‐nucleate, mononucleate, binucleate, and multinucleate. In both parental strains, binucleate spores were predominant, while the number of non‐nucleate spores was the lowest. The diameter of non‐nucleate spores was the smallest, being 11.52 µm and 12.15 µm in parental strain‐81 and strain‐55, respectively, while multinucleate spores had the largest diameter, being 14.78 µm in both parental strains. Both homokaryotic and heterokaryotic strains were identified in isolated single spores from parental strains. Binucleate cells were majorly present in heterokaryotic hyphal cells, and multinucleate cells were predominant in homokaryotic hyphal cells. We conclude that O. aparlosarca contains homokaryotic and heterokaryotic basidiospores, which indicates an amphithallic life cycle. The observed binucleate spores might be the result of post‐meiotic mitosis.