Abstract
White button mushroom—Agaricus bisporus (J.E.Lange) Imbach—is among the most popular cultivated mushrooms worldwide. The most serious challenge in industrial mushroom production is the green mold disease caused by Trichoderma species. Our aim was to isolate and examine bacterial strains from mushroom casing material for their potential use as biocontrol agents. Twenty-seven bacterial strains were isolated and tested against mold pathogens of white button mushroom. The Bacillus velezensis strain SZMC 25431 was selected for further examination and tested under simulated Agaricus cultivation conditions against T. aggressivum SZMC 23834 in a 1200-L Fitotron SGC120 standard plant growth chamber. Our results showed that the bacterial treatment was effective against the pathogen in all cases, but the best results were achieved at an application concentration of 105 cells mL−1. Industrial-scale experiments were also carried out in Agaricus growing houses with a bearing surface of 480 m2: the bacterial suspension was mixed in water tanks applied for daily irrigation. The results suggest that the bacterial treatment may even increase the crop yield of A. bisporus. Based on our results, we concluded that the selected B. velezensis strain may potentially be used for biological and integrated treatment in Agaricus cultivation.
Highlights
White button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) is among the most popular cultivated mushrooms in the world
The strains were identified by sequence analysis of a fragment of the 16S rRNA gene, which was supplemented with the gyrase alpha subunit (gyrA) and rpoB loci in the case of the Bacillus strain selected for the biocontrol application (Supplementary Table S2)
The strains were identified by sequence analysis of a fragment of the 16S rRNA gene, which was supplemented with the gyrA and rpoB loci in the case 7ooff 17 the Bacillus strain selected for the biocontrol application (Supplementary Table S2)
Summary
White button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) is among the most popular cultivated mushrooms in the world. Europaeum (formerly known as Trichoderma harzianum Rifai Th2) is the main fungal pathogen of A. bisporus responsible for the green mold epidemics in Europe [2]. Green mold has been present in mushroom production for decades and is unquestionably the most severe infection, sometimes causing entire crop losses [4]. According to reports about the epidemics in the British Isles during 1985–1986 and in late 1990 and 1991, green mold caused crop losses of about GBP 3–4 million [3]. A similar epidemic caused a loss of over USD 30 million in North America [5]. Aggressivum (formerly known as Trichoderma harzianum Th4), was first reported in Europe by Hatvani et al [7] from a Hungarian mushroom farm, where it caused nearly 100% crop loss The North American green mold biotype, T. aggressivum f. aggressivum (formerly known as Trichoderma harzianum Th4), was first reported in Europe by Hatvani et al [7] from a Hungarian mushroom farm, where it caused nearly 100% crop loss
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