ABSTRACT
It is natural that there has long been interest in fruiting members of the Basidiomycetes, as the mushroom represents the consummation of the life cycle and is thus important in basic scientific studies, including genetics, of these organisms. In addition, the mushroom is the structure that is prized as food in edible species. Most of the early attempts to produce fruiting in culture emphasized nutrition and environmental conditions. As discussed in the previous chapter, these factors are definitely important, and it is certainly an appropriate and reasonable approach to the problem to attempt to reproduce in the laboratory the conditions in nature that exist when and where fruiting takes place.
