Effect of Co-Cultivation of Xylotrophic Fungi Flammulina velutipes and Sparassis crispa (Basidiomycota) on the Molecular Profile and Metabolism of Phospholipids

Abstract This investigation explored the impact of co-cultivation on the phospholipidome of two xylotrophic basidiomycetes. As a model, Flammulina velutipes and Sparassis crispa were grown as surface monocultures and paired in co-culture, and molecular species of phosphatidylcholines (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamines (PE) were quantified by targeted LC-ESI-QqQ-MS/MS. Under co-cultivation, F. velutipes exhibited slower growth with altered colony morphology and decreases in PC, PE, and phosphatidic acid, together with a shift in the PC profile (decreased 18:1_18:2; increased 18:2_18:3; loss of molecular species with C20- and C22 very-long-chain fatty acids). These changes occurred alongside down-regulation of Kennedy-pathway genes and increased expression of the PE-methylation route. In S. crispa, biomass increased and PC, PE rose via higher 18:1_18:2 and 18:2_18:2, with up-regulation of Kennedy-pathway genes. Overall, co-cultivation with a specific antagonist can initiate PC biosynthesis via PE methylation—a potential tolerance mechanism that enables xylotrophic basidiomycetes to develop under competitive conditions.