Impacts of drought stress on soluble carbohydrates and respiratory enzymes in fruit body of Auricularia auricula

In order to study the survival mechanisms to drought stress for fruit body of Auricularia auricula, soluble carbohydrates and respiratory enzymes were investigated. Fruit bodies were exposed to sunlight and were naturally dehydrated. Samples were taken at different levels of water loss (0%, 10%, 30%, 50% and 70%) to measure the content of soluble sugars and polysaccharides. The activities of phosphoglucose isomerase (PGI), combined glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PDH) and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6-PGDH), and malate dehydrogenase (MDH), were also determined. The results showed that with the increase in water loss, soluble sugars and MDH activity declined, whereas the activities of G-6-PDH and 6-PGDH increased. Soluble polysaccharides content and PGI activity decreased with water loss up to 30% and increased afterwards. These results suggested that the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP), as demonstrated by activities of G-6-PDH and 6-PGDH, could be one of the mechanisms for survival during drought stress in the fruit body of A. auricula. Moreover, soluble polysaccharides may play a part in protecting the fruit body in further drought stress.