Clinorotation as a promising and environmentally friendly biotechnology in agriculture and some industries
Authors: Boyko A. L. , Sus N. P. , Boyko O. A. , Orlovskyi A. V. 
Published: October 2020

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.