Use of molecular markers to differentiate between commercial strains of the button mushroom Agaricus bisporus

Agaricus bisporus is an edible basidiomycete cultivated industrially for fo od production. Different spawn and mushroom producers use genetically relat ed A. bisporus strains frequently marketed as different products. In this p aper we show that the use of suitable molecular markers reveals the high le vel of genetic homology of commercial strains of A. bisporus, and allows, a t the same rimer to distinguish between them. In the course of this work, a molecular marker potentially linked to the agronomic character 'mushroom w eight' has been identified by bulked segregant analysis. (C) 2001 Federatio n of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.