I. Introduction: The Fast Fungus described here is the fast-growing, edible oyster mushroom species Pleurotus sajor-caju. This mushroom was originally found in India, growing naturally on a succulent plant (Euphorbia royleans) in the foothills of the Himalayas. Students will be able to grow P. sajor-caju in laboratory glassware and observe fruiting under conditions such as: amount of light, type of light, and aeration. Students will also be able to observe the degradative nature of this fungus, and the active transport of colored dyes in the medium.

II. Materials:

• A. Culturing
  1. Pleurotus sajor-caju. You may want to grow the culture on a Petri plate containing a synthetic medium, such as Potato-Dextrose Agar.
  2. Erlenmeyer flasks (pyrex, 250ml or 300ml) plus sponge or cotton plugs
  3. Alcohol burner (or bunsen burner) matches
  4. Quick cooking oats 1 gram per flask (oatmeal flakes are smaller, easier to degrade)
  5. 25ml graduated cylinder 25 ml tap water per flask
  6. Autoclave (or pressure cooker)
• B. Light Investigation
  1. Crystal Prism
  2. Colored Cellophane (red, green, blue, yellow, black, or aluminum foil)
  3. Clear Tape
• C. Aeration Investigation
  1. Aluminum Foil
  2. Solid, Rubber Plugs
  3. Plastic Food Wrap, Various Brands
• D. Degradation of Strings Investigation
  1. wire string holder per flask
  2. polyester thread
  3. cotton thread (not cotton-covered polyester)
  4. wool strand from skein
  5. piece of hair (from student) alternatively, anything in string form that could be tied
  6. stainless-steel nuts
• E.Decolorization and Transport Investigation
  1. Food coloring (red, green, blue, yellow) alternatively, boiled juices from red cabbage, spinach, beets, grape juice
  2. Phenol red dye

III. Procedures:

• A. Culturing After the mycelium spreads across the plate, slice the culture into small squares, and transfer each tissue square aseptically into sterile flasks.
• B. Light Investigation
• C. Aeration Investigation
• D. Degradation of Strings Investigation
• E. Decolorization and Transport Investigation