Hi there;

I work with white rot fungi (P. ostreatus in this case) to measure the biodegradation of organic contaminants in polluted matrices. Before I subject the fungi to any contamination, I grow it in stationary liquid glucose peptone media in the dark at 25˚C for 14 days. Then I decant the old media, refresh with new GPM and put in the polluted media. That grows for 5 days with constant shaking. I notice after ~2 days that there is this goo that forms on the mycelial mat (it has the consistency of snot). It seems to be fungal in origin but since I'm not a mycologist and don't have an expert to consult with at my university, I'm wondering if someone could tell me what this is?

When I rinse the fungal mycelia with milliQ water, the goo sloughs off but retains it's shape for the most part. Another note, when I grow the P. ostreatus in just water, there is a lot less of this substance than if I grow it in GPM (see picture)

If you have any ideas or thoughts, please let me know!