ONTOGENIC STAGES FROM COENOCYTE TO BASIDIOME AND THEIR RELATION TO PHENOLOXIDASE ACTIVITY AND COLONIZATION PROCESSES IN PHANEROCHAETE-MAGNOLIAE

Three separate collections were made in southern England of Phanerochaete magnoliae forming hydnoid hymenial surfaces through the tubes of Datronia mollis basidiomes. Isolates of P. magnoliae exhibited unusual patterns of development and interaction with other fungi. Germinating basidiospores produced an extensive, sparsely branched, rapidly extending and fully coenocytic mycelial phase with a low fractal dimension. This phase was followed by events of septation, lateral branching, anastomosis, hymenium formation and autolysis in a strongly ordered ontogenetic sequence. These events were correlated with changes in constitutive and inducible laccase and tyrosinase activity. P. magnoliae also had a non-outcrossing breeding strategy and was able specifically to replace colonies of D. mollis without producing dense invasive mycelium.