Figure 2. Variations in gene expression and triterpenoid content across the developmental stages of G. lucidum.

Samples from each of the three developmental stages were ground in liquid nitrogen. Half of each sample was used for RNA extraction, and the other half was used for chemical profiling. (a) The three developmental stages in the life cycle of G. lucidum (aerial mycelia of dikaryons, primordia and fruiting bodies) from which samples for gene expression profiling and chemical profiling were collected. (b) Venn diagrams depicting the genes expressed across the different developmental stages. (c) The distribution of gene expression regulation during the stage transitions from mycelia to primordia (T1) and from primordia to fruiting bodies (T2). The x-axis represents the number of genes, and the y-axis represents the log (fold change) for each gene. The distributions of the actual data points are shown on the right sides of panels T1 and T2. The boxes indicate the means (the line in the middle) and the s.d. of the log (fold changes) (from the middle line to the upper and lower edges of the box). (d) HPLC analyses of the triterpenoid contents in the different developmental stages. Three standard compounds are shown: ganoderic acid B (1), ganoderic acid A (2) and ganoderic acid H (3).