A comparative study of agronomic characteristics in several Iranian wild isolates of the button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus

The white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus, is the most common edible mushroom cultivated in the country, which is very attractive among mushroom consumers. However, all the strains of A. bisporus are commercially imported and no research work has been done on wild populations of this mushroom. The aim of this study was, thus, to evaluate qualitative and quantitative traits of six internal transcribed spacer-authenticated indigenous strains, compared with two commercially cultivated strains of A. bisporus that served as controls. Cultivation experiments were conducted in a mushroom farm using a randomized complete block design with eight strains and three replications. During the picking period, most of the wild isolates exhibited relatively good quality traits in comparison with the controls. However, wild isolate As005 was the only wild isolate to yield mushrooms with an average of 45 mm cap, similar to those of commercial strain H737 and significantly larger than the rest (p < 0.05). In addition, while the cap color of all the wild mushrooms was brown, As005 showed a very light brown color. The yields of the tested wild isolated showed that As005 had a more productivity in the first and second flushes compared to the rest of wild isolates (p < 0.05). Overall, the results showed that As005 had quality and yield characteristics very similar to those of the controls. In conclusion, As005 may be considered as a good candidate in further A. bisporus breeding programs.