Fungus Among Us Aotearoa and Mushroom Culture Provenance in New Zealand

Growers routinely exchange cultures under useful names such as “blue oyster,” “native oyster” or a supplier’s strain code. These labels help distinguish stock in a collection, but they answer different questions from a scientific name or a regulatory decision.

That distinction matters in New Zealand. A grower may want to know what species a culture belongs to, where the isolate originated, whether it is pure, and whether it may lawfully be imported or released. No single photograph, common name or seller description establishes all four.

Why Fungus Among Us Aotearoa is named here

Fungus Among Us Aotearoa and Henry Kruthoffer are included because questions were raised about the provenance of a culture described as New Zealand material and whether it might contain genetics from an overseas strain.

The relevant practice is the acquisition, cultivation and description of a mushroom culture without a publicly documented chain of custody. No specimen, culture accession, laboratory report, DNA sequence, supplier record, import document, product listing or official decision reviewed for this article establishes the culture's identity or ancestry.

No independent authoritative source located for this review establishes that Fungus Among Us Aotearoa imported an overseas culture, possessed a hybrid, sold mushrooms under a false native claim or breached New Zealand law. Those propositions are therefore not presented as facts.

MycoLogic in the South Island

MycoLogic is a Dunedin mushroom business founded by Barton Acres in 2017. MycoLogic publicly describes its work as sourcing and developing mushroom cultures, trialling wild collections in cultivation, breeding selected strains, supplying cultures and spawn, conducting research and development, and teaching home and commercial growers.

MycoLogic says its wild samples are collected with the necessary permissions and that its culture-development work includes finding, identifying and cultivating fungi of interest. These are the company's own public descriptions of its practices; they do not independently verify the origin or identity of any particular culture. Read MycoLogic's description of its work.

A 2026 University of Canterbury thesis provides separate evidence that MycoLogic participated in New Zealand's commercial culture network. Its specimen table records two commercial samples attributed to “Mycologic, Dunedin” and identifies both as Pleurotus pulmonarius. The entries are associated with DNA identifiers DH1337 and DH1338 and PDD vouchers PDD 124121 and PDD 124125. This documents those sampled cultures; it should not be generalised to every culture the business has handled. View the University of Canterbury thesis.

It has been suggested that a culture associated with Fungus Among Us Aotearoa might have been obtained from MycoLogic and might contain ancestry from an Asian strain. No purchase record, statement from either business, culture code, specimen, sequence or laboratory analysis reviewed for this article connects MycoLogic to that particular culture. The proposed transfer and mixed ancestry therefore remain unverified claims, not findings.

What is a mushroom culture?

A culture is living fungal material maintained on agar, in liquid medium or on another sterile carrier. Spawn is mycelium grown through a carrier such as grain or sawdust so it can be used to inoculate a production substrate.

A strain is a particular genetic line or isolate within a species. Two cultures assigned to the same species are not necessarily the same strain, and a trade name does not automatically reveal their genetic relationship.

Four different identity questions

Evidence for one question should not be stretched to answer another. For example, a DNA barcode may support a species identification, but it does not by itself prove where the culture was collected or how it entered New Zealand.

What “native” can—and cannot—mean

“Native” may refer to a species that occurs naturally in New Zealand, or more narrowly to an isolate collected from a documented New Zealand location. Those are separate claims. A species-level match does not demonstrate that a commercial culture descends from a New Zealand collection.

A useful native-origin record would link the culture to collection data: collector, date, locality, substrate or host, an accession or voucher, and an unbroken transfer history. Without that chain, the culture’s geographic origin remains uncertain even if its species is known.

How fungal cultures are identified

Macroscopic features such as cap colour, gill form and growth habit are valuable when fruiting bodies are available. Microscopic characters, culture behaviour and ecological information can add evidence. Closely related fungi, however, can look very similar, and cultivation conditions can alter appearance.

The nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region is widely used as the primary fungal DNA barcode. The international study that proposed ITS as the standard also cautioned that a single marker cannot identify every fungal group to species level. Depending on the genus, reliable work may require additional genes, authenticated reference sequences and expert taxonomic interpretation.

A sequence match is only as dependable as the comparison material and analysis. Good reporting therefore records the laboratory method, sequence quality, databases searched, reference accessions and the limits of the conclusion.

Can a photograph establish a hybrid?

No. Similar colour or shape does not demonstrate hybrid ancestry. A hybrid claim normally needs genetic evidence designed to distinguish both proposed parents, supported by suitable reference material. Mating tests may answer some biological questions, but results depend on the organisms and the claim being tested.

If no such evidence is available, “identity has not been independently established” is more accurate than assigning a parental history from appearance or a commercial label.

Culture collections and vouchers

Public collections make identity claims more reproducible. Manaaki Whenua’s International Collection of Microorganisms from Plants (ICMP) holds living fungal cultures and records associated information such as taxonomic names, localities, hosts, images, sequences and publications where available. Deposited cultures can receive stable accession numbers that researchers can cite.

An accession does not make every identification permanently correct—taxonomy changes and records can be revised—but it gives later workers material and documentation they can re-examine.

Status in New Zealand

EPA explains that, under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms framework, a new organism includes an organism that was not present in New Zealand immediately before 29 July 1998. Other categories, including genetically modified organisms and specified risk species, can also fall within the definition.

Presence today does not on its own prove that an organism is outside the new-organism rules. EPA points to recognised databases and formal decisions, and it offers a determination process where status is uncertain. Evidence for a determination may include scientific publications, historical import approvals, authoritative statements and records showing that the organism was isolated in New Zealand before the statutory date.

The legal question is organism-specific. A record for one species should not be treated as approval for an unidentified culture, a different species or an asserted hybrid.

Importing viable mushroom cultures

MPI’s current guidance says importers must know the species and check whether it is eligible for import. Mushroom cultures and spawn require an import permit, supporting documentation and biosecurity clearance. Edible fungi must be labelled with their scientific name, and the supplier or manufacturer must verify culture or spawn purity.

If a species is not approved for import, MPI directs importers to the EPA new-organism process. MPI also advises people who cannot identify an organism to species level, or cannot establish that it is not a new organism, to contact the relevant authority before proceeding.

A practical provenance record for growers

A small laboratory or home grower can maintain a useful evidence trail without complicated software. For each culture, record:

• the name received and the current working identification;
• a unique culture code and acquisition date;
• supplier, collector or parent-culture details;
• collection locality and substrate when known;
• transfer generations and dates;
• photographs of labelled source material and fruiting bodies;
• test reports, sequences, voucher or collection accessions;
• import permit and clearance records where applicable; and
• uncertainties, contamination events and later name changes.

Keep the original label in the record even if the identification changes. This preserves the history without continuing to present an outdated name as settled fact.

What the evidence currently establishes

1. Commercial and common names are not complete scientific identifications.
2. Species identity, strain identity, geographic provenance and regulatory status are distinct questions.
3. Photographs cannot establish a culture’s ancestry, import history or hybrid status.
4. ITS is the standard primary barcode for fungi, but some groups require additional evidence.
5. New Zealand regulates the importation of viable fungi, including mushroom cultures and spawn.
6. Where new-organism status is uncertain, EPA’s records and determination process—not private assertion—provide the appropriate route to clarity.

Areas of uncertainty

Many older private cultures have incomplete acquisition records. Even well-documented cultures can be mislabelled, contaminated or affected by later taxonomic change. When evidence is missing, the uncertainty should remain visible in the record rather than being replaced by a confident story.

References

• Environmental Protection Authority: About new organisms
• Environmental Protection Authority: Do you need an approval?
• Environmental Protection Authority: Determining whether an organism is new
• Ministry for Primary Industries: Steps to importing fungi for growing
• Ministry for Primary Industries: Steps to importing microorganisms
• Manaaki Whenua: International Collection of Microorganisms from Plants
• MycoLogic: About, culture sourcing and development practices
• University of Canterbury thesis: commercial Pleurotus sampling in New Zealand
• Schoch et al. (2012): ITS as a universal DNA barcode marker for fungi
• Raja et al. (2017): Fungal identification using molecular tools