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BACKGROUND: The characteristics of basidiomycete cell wall are closely related to performance of mushroom materials reported by Prof. Shin's group in 2022. From this work, we expect that it would be possible to develop superior mushroom materials with desired properties by modifying the cell wall synthesis machinery. In this talk, I would like to introduce some recent results of an international collaboration with Prof. Shin, Chosun University. Our research starts with understanding agaricomycete cell walls, then moves to modifying them. RESULTS: The cell wall structure of Pleurotus ostreatus (Basidiomycete) and Aspergillus nidulans (Ascomycete) was visualized by confocal microscopy using α-glucan and β-glucan specific fluorescent probes and calcofluor white. This imaging analysis revealed that the outermost layer of the cell wall is covered by β-glucan in P. ostreatus, although α-glucan mostly covers the outermost layer of the A. nidulans cell wall. Combining the other results, the cell wall structure of this fungus is completely different from those of Aspergilli. Therefore, we are starting to analyze cell wall polysaccharide synthases and transcription factors involved in the cell wall integrity signal transduction pathway (CWIS) in P. ostreatus1,2. In this process, important mycelial characteristics for mushroom material were successfully changed by deleting the genes involved in CWIS. CONCLUSION: Our results indicated that molecular breeding opens the door of cell wall engineering for future mushroom material improvement. We just received a new grant for an international collaboration with Prof. Shin on mycelial materials from October.