Intersterility between populations of Lentinula edodes from Papua New Guinea

Mating tests among strains of Lentinula edodes distributed in Asia-Australasia were conducted. As a result, 26 strains were classified into three groups: 2 strains from Mt. Wilhelm in Papua New Guinea (PN1 group) showed intersterility with 7 strains from Mt. Albert Edward and Mt. Kaisenik in Papua New Guinea (PN2 group) and semicompatibility (clamp formation restricted to contact zone between paired monokaryons) with 17 strains from Asia-Australasia (AA group), whereas the strains of the PN2 group showed compatibility with the AA group. These results suggest that the shiitake populations distributed in Asia-Australasia including Papua New Guinea are in the process of speciation.