2. Methods
2.1. Fungal strains and preparation of inocula
S. commune NBRC 4928 was subcultured on potato dextrose
agar (PDA, Nissui, Tokyo, Japan) plates at 25 C. Mycelial discs,
12 mm in diameter, were prepared as inocula. Thanatephorus
cucumeris IWA5b was employed as lignin-degradable fungus for
co-culturing with S. commune NBRC 4928. T. cucumeris IWA5b
was collected as a spore in environmental air by catching on an
agar plate. The spore was incubated to make a colony and then
identified as a basidiomycete by observing clamp connection of
hyphae. Species of the strain was identified by sequencing the
internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region in the ribosomal gene
(accession No. LC068774).