Biology and Ecology of Termitomyces Fungus in China

摘要

Termitomyces fungus has a symbiotic relationship with the fungus-growing termites belonging to subfamily Macrotermitinae. In China, 17 species of Macrotermitinae have been reported to cultivate Termitomyces. Although an individual termite comb is a single- Termitomyces culture, interactive specificity between Termitomyces and termites exists at the genus level. Field investigations confirmed that fungal combs provided an optimal microclimate for Termitomyces, and the emergence of Termitomyces basidiocarps was related with the development stage of the termite colony, the climate characters, the geographical characters and the flora composition of a region. Due to spatial and temporal restrictions in field investigation, modern cultivation-dependent and -independent approaches have been gradually applied in the study of Termitomyces in China. Among them, the role of Termitomyces in termite nutrition was confirmed by the enzyme activity analysis and gene cloning technology. Inhibition of the emergenceof Termitomyces basidiocarps and the growth of non- Termitomyces fungi in termite nests were verified by cultivationdependent experiments. The chemical composition of the fungal comb was analyzed by modern separation and analysis techniques. All of these works revealed the key factors influencing the development of Termitomyces.