Mycena kentingensis, a new species of luminous mushroom in Taiwan, with reference to its culture method

Mycena kentingensis, a new luminous mushroom, was discovered in the tropical forest of Kenting National Park in Taiwan. The pileus of M. kentingensis is 3-8 mm in diameter and emits green light in the dark. The dorsal surface of the pileus is covered with short and white spines. The lamellae are nearly free. The stipe is puberulous with a white basal disc about 2 mm broad. Cheilocystidia are clavate to obpyriform, 16-40 x 4-8 mu m, and have dense excrescences on the upper half or two-thirds of the cell. The pileus lacks cherocyte, and the stipe lacks caulocystidium. To further identify the species by the DNA barcode method, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) DNA sequence of M. kentingensis was amplified by polymerase chain reaction, sequenced, and searched for in the GenBank. The hit with the maximum score was an uncultured fungus clone KFRI2121 (accession number HQ662846) with 88 % sequence identity. For those ITS sequences associated with Latin binominal names in the GenBank, the hit with the maximum score was Mycena stylobates with 87 % sequence identity. Phylogenetic analyses by Bayesian and maximum likelihood methods showed that M. kentingensis is close to M. stylobates and M. adscendens. To develop its culture method, mycelia of M. kentingensis were isolated. The optimal temperature for mycelial growth on potato-dextrose agar (PDA) medium was 24 A degrees C. Commercial compost with the addition of 20 % rice bran and 50 % water was appropriate for fruit-body formation. The new species of Mycena kentingensis brings the total of luminous fungi in the world to 74 species.