The mycelial growth of the L. strigosus isolate was evaluated
at temperatures of 25°, 30°, 35°, 40°, and 45°C, on PDA
medium. Each Petri dish (90 mm diameter) was inoculated
with one disk (10 mm diameter) of the mycelia freshly
grown on PDA plates and cultured for 5 days at 25°C. The
mycelial growth was evaluated by measuring the diameter
of the colony and the mycelial dry weight on the 5th and on
the 6th day, respectively. The two common measures of
growth rate are (1) increase in radius of colony over time
and (2) increase in dry mass of colony over time. The fi rst
has the advantage that sequential records can be obtained
from each colony. The second is a more absolute measurement,
but can be performed only once for each colony
(Kendrick 2000). In this study, we adopted a methodology
that allowed evaluation of the colony diameter and dry
weight, cultivated in solid medium. For evaluation of mycelial
dry weight, after the growth of the colony in the respective
culture media, the Petri dish was placed in a microwave
oven for 20 s to melt the medium. Soon after, the mycelium
was separated from the medium for fi ltration and washed
with distilled water, at an approximate temperature of 60°C.
This preparation was placed in an oven at 105°C until constant
in weight.