Working towards Morel Cultivation in the Northeastern United States
Open Access
- Author:
- Guo, Xiangrong
- Graduate Program:
- Plant Pathology
- Degree:
- Master of Science
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- February 23, 2023
- Committee Members:
- Maria Del Mar Jimenez Gasco, Program Head/Chair
John Andrew Pecchia, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Sharifa G Crandall, Committee Member
Gretchen Anna Kuldau, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Josephine Wee, Committee Member - Keywords:
- Morchella
morel cultivation
mating-type
ascocarp
fruiting body
conidiation
nutrient bag - Abstract:
- Morels, Morchella spp., are edible mushrooms collected worldwide, including in the Northeastern United States. They are highly prized for their culinary, nutritional, and medicinal value. Dried morels sell for as much as $415.68 per pound in US grocery stores and many of these morels are imported from China. Since 2012, a successful outdoor cultivation strategy that supports vegetative mycelial growth using sterilized plant polysaccharides such as sawdust, wheat, and corn kernels contained in a plastic bag launched the Chinese morel cultivation industry that then rapidly expanded. The Chinese growers call it the nutrient bag. To date, this Chinese nutrient bag technique is the only cost-effective production model for morel cultivation. In 2017, the Pecchia Lab at Penn State imported this cultivation strategy and successfully cultivated M. rufobrunnea indoors in 2019. Building on this, this work tested the effect of mating on yield potential by replicating the Chinese nutrient bag technique outdoors in a shaded structure (a high tunnel) and indoors in grow rooms with a controlled environment. The experiments were done with two species with historic fruiting success - M. rufobrunnea and M. importuna and demonstrated that M. importuna with either MAT 1-1-1 or MAT 1-2-1 strains were capable of fruiting as well as mixed. M. importuna strains appeared heterothallic, while M. rufobrunnea strains appeared homothallic. These data will help growers establish morel cultivation sites and manage the cropping procedure to produce consistent yields, making morel farming profitable. The specific aims of this project are: 1. to grow morels indoors in a growing room and outdoors in a high tunnel in the Northeastern United States (State College, PA), and 2. to determine the role of mating on fruiting body formation of M. importuna and M. rufobrunnea.