Clinorotation as a promising and environmentally friendly biotechnology in agriculture and some industries

Aim. To investigate the direct and indirect impact of clinorotation on vital activity of gilled mushrooms (Agaricales) using the mycelium of the model organism Agaricus bisporus, clinorotated by the ground-based facility Ekoloh, as the example. Methods. The mycelium of Agaricus bisporus was cultivated on the medium with agar and compost extract. The microgravitational environment was simulated using the method of uniaxial clinorotation at the ground-based facility Ekoloh. The mycelia of Agaricus bisporus from the experimental group were clinorotated for 4 h a day for 12 days. The samples from the control group were cultivated in normal (1 g) conditions. The simulated gravitational acceleration value was 3.5 × 10–4 g at the rotational velocity of 2.5 rpm and the rotation radius of 0.05 m. The centrifugal acceleration, affecting the mycelium of Agaricus bisporus under clinorotation, was 0.00343 m/s2. The two-way ANOVA analysis demonstrated that the effects of g-level, the duration of the impact and their interaction were all statistically signifi cant. At the same time, 73.1 % of the variance in mycelium growth coeffi cient was triggered by the simulated value of the g, i.e. the duration of the impact was a minor factor. Results. Clinorotation stimulated growth and development of gilled mushroom (Agaricales) mycelium. In particular, in this study the clinorotated mycelium of Agaricus bisporus had approximately 3.4, 2.5, 1.6 times higher coeffi cients of mycelium growth compared against the mycelium, cultivated in stationary conditions (1 g) on day 5, 10, and 15 of the cultivation respectively. Contrary to the control mycelial colonies, the growth of clinorotated mycelial colonies of Agaricus bisporus was asymmetric. The direction of the gravitational acceleration vector regarding mycelium colonies was constantly changing in the microgravitational environment, simulated by the ground-based facility Ekoloh. At the same time, different organs of Agaricus bisporus are characterized by gravitropism of different orientation. Therefore, constant changes in the direction of gravitational acceleration vector regarding mycelium could have caused constant re-orientation of mycelium cells in terms of the gravitational acceleration vector, and thus, multidirectional asymmetric growth. In addition, the centrifugal acceleration, generated during clinorotation, is a mechanostimulator, capable of triggering stress responses in different living systems. The accelerated growth is one of the stress responses. At the same time, mycelium could expand in the environment mechanically due to the impact of centrifugal acceleration. However, the centrifugal acceleration was insignifi cant, thus, we believe that the main effect was caused by microgravity. Conclusions. Since clinorotation stimulates the growth and development of gilled mushrooms and is an effi cient way of forming virus-free planting material of different plants, this technology may have a wide scope of application. It may be used in agriculture, forestry and different industries, using raw plants or mushrooms, for instance, in food, pharmaceutical and textile industries, etc.