This was actually a quote I got from a medical mycology textbook. The fungi when in contact will only send the nucleus across through the septa (which most likely contains some cytoplasm.) The nuclei, are then coexisting in each cell across both colonies by DNA replication. The colonies don't transfer all their cytoplasm among each other they just share that nucleus across the colony. It's like each colony takes it upon itself to replicate and spread the new nucleus genetics across all cells rather than the colonies moving a whole bunch of nuclei over to the compatible partner. So, the nuclei aren't combing until karyogamy like you said they are just existing together in the cells. I'm sure in that bridging cell where the 2 colonies meet there has to be some cytoplasm transfer in order to move the nucleus over to the other cell and test for compatibility but that would be our only transfer. 

Christopher Edgar Awesome that is great to hear! glad I could help and thanks for actually trying to collect some data it really helps to visualize what's going on and draw some better conclusions.

The block wouldn't be considered sterile but it is definitely a high-temp pasteurization that should work great. When cooking our master mix blocks we try to make sure they achieve a temperature of 200F to ensure proper pasteurization. For true sterile the internal temp of the master mix block would need to be at 245-250F for at least 20 minutes, we just do 35 in our autoclave to be safe for spawn.

BenJamin Harder it's not necessarily inbreeding but if you kept adding new broth indefinitely, senescence would eventually occur. It's more like if you kept expanding out your strain.

Nope no problem at all with pouring the LC instead of injecting it. Just if you are gonna open the lid make sure you are right in front of that flowhood.

That is definitely a possibility. The eventual idea for us is that by letting that mycelium generate in the LC while consistently feeding it new broth, we can create a sort of hockey puck of mycelium forming on the bottom. 

I think Erik is planning on doing another video once we get the cultures up and running about this. This is just what I gathered from talking to him about the LC setup.

very cool thanks for sharing! Are these albino strains? Also, what are the 3 methods and which pictures correspond to which method?

So I can't really give a conclusive answer only ideas. The chlorodioxide is fast acting as the chemist says but it does have an oxidation rate that is 2.6 times more powerful than you're run of the mill chlorine bleach. You might be able to ask the chemist if he has any insight on chlorodioxide vs bleach, in terms of it's potency as an antimicrobial. But in my mind due to that greater oxidative power you would want a lower the ppm say 75-100 and then with the 2.6 factor it equals you're total bleach oxidative power. Keep in mind this doesn't always work linearly so that is just a guess.

We haven't ventured down this route but cactus hat mushrooms has a lions mane blend coffee that we use here at the office and he sells. I don't know his exact process but it appears to just be grinded up fruiting bodies mixed in with the coffee grounds and then letting the hot water do the extraction. I think in reality it will transfer a little taste and some of the benefits but it wouldn't be anything close to say a tincture or supplement. In general just the more you are able to grind the mushroom and closer to say a dust then more of it's benefits would be transferred through into the coffee. Just the idea of more surface area the finer the grind.

Phillipe Kenny Also from talking to Erik the first place to start is going to be getting that temperature to be in a more stable state instead of fluctuating so drastically. Then as you said, make sure that hydration rate is nice and solid to ensure full coverage of the pellets.

Phillipe Kenny In terms of stroma we have specifically seen it across all oyster strains and no others (except a white beech bag recently). I don't have an accurate rate of stroma appearing from non stroma spawn but it does certainly help. Before we have tried to use master spawn with small stroma spots to see if it is viable but it does translate to more stroma in the fruiting block and in the spawn blocks. Recap, if spawn has stroma it will translate more into the fruiting block, and yes stroma is pretty oyster specific.