Molecular Biology of Mushroom, 2nd Edition

A special issue of Journal of Fungi (ISSN 2309-608X). This special issue belongs to the section "Fungal Genomics, Genetics and Molecular Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 374

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Medicinal Biosciences, Konkuk University, Chungju 27478, Republic of Korea
Interests: genomics; transcriptomics; medicinal mushroom metabolite; epigenetics; cultivation; system biology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Mushrooms have long been used as food and medicinal ingredients and are an excellent model for biological research.  However, many mushrooms' basic biology and genetics are poorly understood. Fortunately, with the development of various molecular biology technologies, the biological properties of mushrooms that were not understood until now are gradually being revealed, and the various uses of mushrooms are attracting attention. Recently, Omics-based research on various mushrooms has been actively conducted, and the veil on mushrooms is gradually lifted. Through this, the biological characteristics of mushrooms and their genetic characteristics are being revealed. In addition, many mushrooms produce toxins, and their medical uses are also receiving attention.

In this Special Issue, we invite you to participate in introducing the latest achievements in the field of molecular biology of mushrooms. This will not only be helpful to researchers in various fields researching mushrooms but will also contribute to the development of related research fields.

Dr. Young-Jin Park
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Fungi is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • molecular biology
  • genetics
  • genomics
  • transcriptomics
  • medicinal uses
  • metabolism and metabolites
  • evolution
  • fruiting body development

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

20 pages, 2842 KB  
Article
Comparative Mitogenomics Reveals Intron Dynamics and Mitochondrial Gene Expression Shifts in Domesticated and Wild Pleurotus ostreatus
by Gumer Pérez, Idoia Jiménez, Edurne Garde, Lucía Ramírez and Antonio G. Pisabarro
J. Fungi 2026, 12(1), 75; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof12010075 - 20 Jan 2026
Viewed by 266
Abstract
Mitochondrial genomes play a central role in fungal physiology and adaptation, yet their evolutionary dynamics during domestication remain poorly understood. Here, we performed a comparative mitogenomic and gene-expression analysis of three Pleurotus ostreatus dikaryotic strains differing in origin and degree of adaptation to [...] Read more.
Mitochondrial genomes play a central role in fungal physiology and adaptation, yet their evolutionary dynamics during domestication remain poorly understood. Here, we performed a comparative mitogenomic and gene-expression analysis of three Pleurotus ostreatus dikaryotic strains differing in origin and degree of adaptation to laboratory conditions: the long-term commercial strain dkN001, the laboratory-maintained wild isolate dkF515, and the recently collected wild strain dkN009. High-throughput Illumina sequencing enabled complete assembly of circular mitochondrial genomes, revealing substantial size variation among strains, where the dkN001 strain exhibited the second smallest mitogenome reported for the genus Pleurotus. Comparative analyses showed >99% sequence identity between wild isolates and ~95% identity relative to the commercial strain. Variations in genome size among strains were associated with intron dynamics in the cox1 and rnl genes, as well as intron loss predominantly in the commercial strain dkN001, consistent with mitochondrial genome streamlining during domestication. Expression profiling of mitochondrial protein-coding genes (PCGs) under multiple culture conditions revealed conserved transcriptional responses in dkN001 and dkF515 that contrasted sharply with those of dkN009. The differences observed, which affected components of the electron transport chain, suggested shifts in energy metabolism associated with long-term laboratory maintenance. Therefore, our results demonstrate that domestication in P. ostreatus involves both structural remodelling of the mitogenome and changes in regulation of mitochondrial PCGs, highlighting the importance of mitonuclear interactions in fungal adaptation to controlled environments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Biology of Mushroom, 2nd Edition)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop