| Inonotus obliquus is a versatile medicinal and edible fungus renowned for its array of health benefits, including antiviral properties, cardiovascular protection, and immune regulation. However, its slow growth rate and limited natural availability have hindered large-scale production and industrial development. To optimize the fermentation culture mode of I. obliquus and enhance the synthesis of its bioactive compounds, this study exlpored the differences in the co-culture fermentation broths of I. obliquus and the fungal isolates generated from the fruiting bodies of wild I. obliquus, specifically Aspergillus pseudoglaucus, A. glaucus, Trichoderma harzianum, and Penicillium olsonii, respectively. Based on UPLC-Q-TOF-MS combined with orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA), significant variations in the contents of polysaccharides and polyphenols were observed across different co-culture treatments. Notably, the polyphenols content in the co-culture of I. obliquus and A. glaucus increased by 11.15% compared to that in the single culture. Furthermore, differential metabolites identified in the co-culture broths of I. obliquus with each of the other fungi compared to culture separately were as follows: I. obliquus and A. pseudoglaucus with 13 types comprising 34 differential metabolites, I. obliquus and A. glaucus with 10 types comprising 21 differential metabolites, I. obliquus and T. harzianum with 11 types comprising 24 differential metabolites, and I. obliquus and P. olsonii with 8 types comprising 17 differential metabolites, respectively. These differential metabolites are likely associated with metabolic regulation induced by co-culturing the fungal isolates mentioned above with I. obliquus. This study provides an effective approach for co-culture and the regulation of metabolic compound synthesis in I. obliquus and its paired fungal isolates, offering valuable insights for enhancing the industrial application of its beneficial metabolites. |
