Revival of saprotrophic and mycorrhizal basidiomycete cultures after 30 years in cold storage in sterile water.

Vegetatively colonized agar cores of 54 basidiomycete fungal isolates were stored at 5 °C in tubes of sterile distilled water without manipulation for 30 years. The cultures represented 28 isolates of saprotrophic fungi and 26 isolates of mycorrhizal fungi. These cultures came from a group of 57 fungal isolates that were determined to be viable after 20 years of cold-water storage.

Comparison of effectiveness of wood decay fungi maintained by annual subculture on agar and stored in sterile water for 18 years.

Fourteen isolates of basidiomycete decay fungi (12 species) were maintained for 18 years on agar slants transferred annually and also stored as mycelium-agar cores under cold sterile water without subculture. Isolates stored by each method were evaluated for decay effectiveness using a standard laboratory accelerated soil-block decay test. Effectiveness was measured by mean percent mass loss of wood blocks.