Morphological observation and biomass formation in different edible medicinal Morchella collections (Pezizomycetes, Ascomycota)

The ascomycetes in the genus Morchella (commonly called morels) have a considerable economic and biotechnological value for their culinary and medicinal proprieties. However, their biotechnological interest is not limited to the fruiting body cultivation, but also in mycelial production to obtain bioactive compounds and other biotech products. In order to better exploit the biotechnological potentialities of morels it is necessary to improve the knowledge on their biology and mycelial characteristics. In this paper morphological and growth characteristics of mycelia, as well as biomass formation of Italian collections of five edible medicinal Morchella species [M. esculenta (L.) Pers., M. dunalii Boud., M. importuna M. Kuo, O'Donnell & T.J. Volk, M. disparilis Loizides & P.-A. Moreau and M. purpurascens (Krombh. ex Boud.) Jacquet.] are presented.