{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,10]],"date-time":"2026-08-10T10:33:05Z","timestamp":1786357985254,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,10]],"date-time":"2026-08-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786320000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"project of scientific research business expenses of provincial research institutes of Heilongjiang Province","award":["CZBZ202506003"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CZBZ202506003"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J. Fungi","JoF"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Auricularia heimuer is an important cultivated edible mushroom in China. This study used the early maturity, chrysanthemum-shaped, high yield strain \u201c8808\u201d and the late-maturity, single-shaped, high-quality strain \u201cHW15\u201d as parental strains. The objective was to develop a new strain of A. heimuer combining early maturity with excellent quality through protoplast fusion. Protoplasts from the parental strains were fused using a polyethylene glycol (PEG)-mediated method. The obtained hybrids were identified through clamp connection, antagonism tests, esterase isozyme analysis, and Inter-Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) molecular marker techniques, followed by ultimate selection through cultivation. Among the evaluated hybrids, strain R33 exhibited desirable agronomic traits: primordium formation occurred 4 days earlier than the parental strain HW15, harvest time was advanced by 6 days, yield increased by 14.7%, and the ratio of absorbed water improved by 29.8%. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that starch and sucrose metabolism as well as amino acid metabolism pathways were significantly upregulated in R33, which may be associated with its early maturity and high-yield phenotype. Overall, protoplast fusion technology can be used to create promising candidate strains that combine early maturity, high yield, and excellent quality.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jof12080591","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,10]],"date-time":"2026-08-10T09:24:53Z","timestamp":1786353893000},"page":"591","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Breeding of Early Maturity, High-Quality Auricularia heimuer Strains Using Protoplast Fusion"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-4182-2273","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Xin","family":"Yue","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Microbiology, Heilongjiang Academy of Sciences\/National Collection of Edible Fungi (Heilongjiang), Harbin 150010, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-9157-1887","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Shuyuan","family":"Song","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Microbiology, Heilongjiang Academy of Sciences\/National Collection of Edible Fungi (Heilongjiang), Harbin 150010, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaojia","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Microbiology, Heilongjiang Academy of Sciences\/National Collection of Edible Fungi (Heilongjiang), Harbin 150010, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yanshu","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Microbiology, Heilongjiang Academy of Sciences\/National Collection of Edible Fungi (Heilongjiang), Harbin 150010, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuxin","family":"Jiang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Microbiology, Heilongjiang Academy of Sciences\/National Collection of Edible Fungi (Heilongjiang), Harbin 150010, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shuyang","family":"Zhou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Microbiology, Heilongjiang Academy of Sciences\/National Collection of Edible Fungi (Heilongjiang), Harbin 150010, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiancheng","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Microbiology, Heilongjiang Academy of Sciences\/National Collection of Edible Fungi (Heilongjiang), Harbin 150010, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chuang","family":"Han","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Microbiology, Heilongjiang Academy of Sciences\/National Collection of Edible Fungi (Heilongjiang), Harbin 150010, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaodong","family":"Dai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Microbiology, Heilongjiang Academy of Sciences\/National Collection of Edible Fungi (Heilongjiang), Harbin 150010, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Shao, K., Feng, Q., Yao, F., Lu, L., Fang, M.X., and Sun, X. 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