Conservation of Medicinal Mushrooms in the V. L. Komarov Botanical Institute Basidiomycetes Culture Collection (LE-BIN, Russia)

Conservation of medicinal mushrooms in specialized culture collections and genetic resource centers creates the best conditions for culture preservation and provides considerable resources for the screening of mushroom biological activity. The Komarov Botanical Institute Culture Collection LE-BIN is the most unique specialized Basidiomycetes culture collection in Russia, which now preserves approximately 10% of the natural diversity of Basidiomycetes in Russia over 1,570 strains of 601 species, including a great variety of medicinal mushrooms. The diversity of species and strains is gradually increasing in the LE-BIN Culture Collection. Obtaining and preserving medicinal mushrooms are among the priorities in developing the collection. Numerous strains of such species studied all over the world, such as Flammulina velutipes, Fomes fomentarius, Ganoderma lucidum, Inonotus obliquus, Lentinus edodes, Pleurotus ostreatus, Schizophyllum commune, etc., are maintained in the LE-BIN. Investigations of the biological activity of Basidiomycetes that have been carried out in the Komarov Botanical Institute for over 50 years revealed strains with fibrino- and thrombolytic, hallucinogenic, and antitumor activities. It was found that cultures of some medicinal mushrooms possessed phytotoxic, milk clotting, and ligninolytic activity, as well. The correct identification of mushrooms is very important, especially for medical treatments; therefore, verification of strains in the LE-BIN Collection is carried out using cultural, biochemical, and molecular methods. As a result, a number of strains were reidentified. The names of the LE-BIN cultures are regularly reviewed following modern nomenclature.