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Abstract: During experiments with the cultivated mushroom we found that cultures inoculated with hyphal fragments did not grow when sealed over a KOH solution. This observation was considered important because of the similarity of hyphal fragment growth to that of germlings following spore germination. In addition, the observation was of interest because of the conflicting reports in the literature concerning the effect of carbon dioxide on mycelial growth. In tests with carbon dioxide concentrations of 2 volume per cent and greater, Tschierpe (1959) concluded that growth of A. bisporus mycelium on agar medium was inhibited by added carbon dioxide. Long and Jacobs (1968), however, demonstrated that carbon dioxide was required for the growth of hyphal strands of A. bisporus into both sterile and non-sterile peat casing. Though all fungi presumably fix CO2 to some extent, both stimulation and inhibition of fungal growth by CO2 have been recorded in an extensive literature as summarized by Foster (1949) and Tschierpe (1959). In reported instances of mycelial growth inhibition, it is probable that experimentally added CO2 with that generated by metabolism resulted in a too high CO2 concentration. Growth stimulation, on the other hand, often may not have been demonstrated because reabsorption of endogenously-produced CO2 (Reid and Woods, 1967) and perhaps other factors made it difficult to remove all COa from a culture (Buston et al., 1966). It appeared that the use of hyphal fragments offered a simple way to avoid these consequences of the multicellular nature of mycelium. Though hyphal fragments are commonly used, even quantitatively (Guidry and Trelles, 1962), we are not aware of any previous description of their behaviour above KOH. This paper describes the result of our study, using hyphal fragments, of the effect of CO2 on the cultivated mushroom.
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