Pleurotus Fruiting Bodies Contain the Inhibitor of 3-Hydroxy-3-Methylglutaryl-Coenzyme A Reductase—Lovastatin

Gunde-Cimerman, N., and Cimerman, A. 1995. Pleurotus fruiting bodies contain the inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase-lovastatin. Experimental Mycology 19, 1-6. In the fruiting bodies of the fungus Pleurotus ostreatus, also called the oyster mushroom, we found a competitive inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase—lovastatin. The appearance of the inhibitor during the development of fruiting bodies was followed and lovastatin determined in the vegetative mycelium, in the primordia, as well as in different parts of sporocarps of different sizes. Less lovastatin was found in stipes as compared to pili or in mature stages in the lamellae and basidiospores.