This study aimed to assess the strain-specific and cultivation-dependent bioactivity of Schizophyllum commune ethanol extracts in promoting seed germination and early seedling performance of garden pea (Pisum sativum L.). The work contributes to the search for sustainable, biologically based plant growth promoters. Two dikaryotic strains of S. commune originating from Serbia and Italy were cultivated under submerged conditions for 7–28 days. Ethanol extracts were prepared from fungal biomass and culture filtrates at concentrations of 10 mg/mL and 50 mg/mL. Seeds of P. sativum cv. Dunav were bioprimed for 6 h and tested under controlled laboratory conditions following ISTA procedures. Germination parameters, shoot and root growth, elongation rates, biomass accumulation, and seedling vigor index were determined. All extracts significantly enhanced pea seedling performance relative to the control (p ≤ 0.001). The strongest effects were observed for the SRB strain, particularly filtrate and biomass extracts from 14- and 21-day cultures. Treatments 21F1 and 21F5 increased shoot elongation rate up to 7.6 mm day⁻¹ and seedling vigor index to 705, compared with 3.3 mm day⁻¹ and 412.5, respectively, in the control. The ITA strain showed delayed but notable stimulatory effects after longer cultivation (21–28 days). The results confirm that the biostimulant potential of S. commune depends on strain origin and cultivation period, identifying mid-cultivation SRB extracts as the most effective biopriming agents for enhancing legume seedling vigor.
Mišković et al. (Mon,) studied this question.
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