Screening of a Superior Ganoderma leucocontextum Strain and Evaluation of Its Agronomic Traits and Bioactive Compounds

Ganoderma leucocontextum, a new germplasm resource first reported in 2015, has considerable potential for the development of bioactive compounds. However, its wild populations are mainly distributed in high-altitude regions, and its adaptability to cultivation under subtropical conditions in southern China remains insufficiently studied. In this study, seven G. leucocontextum strains collected from the Tibet Autonomous Region and Yunnan Province, China, were used as experimental materials. Strain identification and genetic diversity were evaluated using ITS sequence analysis, antagonism assays, and ISSR molecular markers, followed by assessment of resistance to Trichoderma. and cultivation performance to screen for a superior strain. The results showed that strain GL2 exhibited superior overall production performance. Under greenhouse cultivation conditions, its fresh fruiting body yield reached 36.07 g per bag, representing a 26.13% increase compared with strain GL1. Under industrial-scale cultivation conditions, the pileus width, the flesh thickness, and fresh weight per bag reached 110.87 mm, 12.06 mm, and 80.46 g, respectively. The triterpene and sterol content of GL2 was 1.04 g/100 g, significantly higher than those of Ganoderma lucidum (0.60 g/100 g) and Ganoderma sinense (0.68 g/100 g). In addition, its total phenolic content reached 0.37 g/100 g, while total amino acid content was 9.29 g/100 g, both showing clear advantages over the comparison species. All tested strains exhibited moderate resistance to Trichoderma, with inhibition rates ranging from 51.28% to 68.79%. Overall, strain GL2 showed stable yield performance, commercial traits, and bioactive component profiles under both protected and industrial cultivation conditions in southern China. It may therefore serve as a promising candidate strain for the cultivation of G. leucocontextum in this region and provides a basis for its further development as a functional food ingredient and as a potential alternative resource to traditional Ganoderma species.