Agaricus Species Research Articles

Ethnobotanical diversity, phytochemical screening and biological evaluation of selected medicinal mushrooms species

The current study was aimed to investigate the ethno-pharmacology, diversity, biological potentials of different mushrooms species from District Swabi, Pakistan. Ethno-pharmacological data was collected from 73 respondents based on interview, group discussion and field visits. Quantitative analysis such as informant consent factor (ICF), Use value (UV), Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC) were done. Morphological identification of mushrooms, extract preparation, phytochemical screening and statistical analysis of data was conducted. Phytochemical analysis of six mushroom species revealed that saponins, alkaloids, glycosides, flavonoids and phenols were present in six selected mushrooms, while tannin and steroids (−) present in Agaricus arvensis. In Morchella conica only steroids (−) was absent, Qunion (−) in Polyporus tuberaster, Pleurotus ostreatus and Omphalotus olearius were found absent. Moisture contents (10.17 ± 1.27) and crude fats (5.26 ± 1.50) present in Omphalotus olearius. Highest content of crude fibers (26.57 ± 0.86) and carbohydrates (62.18 ± 0.73) were found in Pleurotus ostreatus. Highest ash contents (12.62 ± 0.46) were reported in Polyporus tuberaster. The respondents’ consensus factor values ranged from 1.66 to 61.74 in which highest ICF value was 61.74 while the lowest was 1.66. The high RFC was recorded forAgaricus (0.67) while lowest RFC was observed in Clitocybe frondasa (0.05). The results of analgesic activity were compared to the diclofenac (Standard drug). The extracts of aqueous and methanolic extract were most active at the level of (400 mg/kg). As antipyretic agents, methanolic and aqueous extracts of Agaricus species were analyzed for anti-inflammatory activity compare to diclofenac (Standard drug) where the aqueous (200 mg/kg) and methanolic (400 mg/kg) were found to be very active. Finally, mushrooms with high (ICF and UV) were further investigated for phytochemicals and pharmacological analysis which revealed significant biological potentials. This provides basic ground information which can be used to explore novel mushroom-based medicines for the treatment of various diseases. The commercial cultivation of mushrooms represents a promising opportunity to leverage their diverse health benefits and nutritional properties. By prioritizing research and cultivation methods while educating the public, the potential of mushrooms as vital components of both nutrition and medicine can be significantly realized, impacting health outcomes and contributing to sustainable agricultural practices.

Morphological and Molecular Characterization of Three Agaricus Species from Jammu and Kashmir, India

Morphological and Molecular Characterization of Three Agaricus Species from Jammu and Kashmir, India

Chemical Structures, Biological Activities, and Biosynthetic Analysis of Secondary Metabolites from Agaricus Mushrooms: A Review.

Agaricus mushrooms are an important genus in the Agaricaceae family, belonging to the order Agaricales of the class Basidiomycota. Among them, Agaricus bisporus is a common mushroom for mass consumption, which is not only nutritious but also possesses significant medicinal properties such as anticancer, antibacterial, antioxidant, and immunomodulatory properties. The rare edible mushroom, Agaricus blazei, contains unique agaricol compounds with significant anticancer activity against liver cancer. Agaricus blazei is believed to expel wind and cold, i.e., the pathogenic factors of wind and cold from the body, and is an important formula in traditional Chinese medicine. Despite its nutritional richness and outstanding medicinal value, Agaricus mushrooms have not been systematically compiled and summarized. Therefore, the present review compiles and classifies 70 natural products extracted from Agaricus mushrooms over the past six decades. These compounds exhibit diverse biological and pharmacological activities, with particular emphasis on antitumor and antioxidant properties. While A.blazei and A.bisporus are the primary producers of these compounds, studies on secondary metabolites from other Agaricus species remain limited. Further research is needed to explore and understand the anticancer and nutritional properties of Agaricus mushrooms. This review contributes to the understanding of the structure, bioactivity, and biosynthetic pathways of Agaricus compounds and provides insights for the development of functional foods using these mushrooms.

Agaricus cervinoculus sp. nov. (Agaricaceae), a new wild edible mushroom from Mexico

In Mexico, there are 55 wild species of Agaricus representing approximately 10 % of the world’s diversity of the genus. 22 species of these wild mushrooms are traditionally consumed. The lack of keys for the identification of Mexican species, the difficulties in recognizing distinctive morphological characters and the need for comprehensive studies in some sections of the genus, makes it difficult to distinguish species complexes. The edible species known locally as “ojo de venado” was previously identified as A. sylvaticus in Mexico. Our phylogenetic analyses revealed that this ethnotaxon, which is sold in the markets of Xalapa (Veracruz, Mexico), includes at least two species of A. sect. Subrutilescentes. One of them, Agaricus cervinoculus, is described as a new species. A full description, photographs and comparisons to other similar species are provided. This new species constitutes a well-supported monophyletic clade, sister to the “A. subrutilescens” group.

Agaricus griseovariegatus: A new record of genus Agaricus for Indian mycobiota from Jammu and Kashmir, India

AbstractIn the present communication, a species of Agaricus (A. griseovariegatus) belonging to A. sect. Xanthodermatei has been described from North‐western Himalaya of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India. This species is humicolous and found on dead decaying leaves of walnut. It is characterized by its appressed olive‐gray squamules, broad radial fissures on the pileus, floccose annulus, faintly yellow context, phenolic odor, and bisporic to tetrasporic basidia. This species is reported here as a novel addition to India's macrofungal flora. Its morphology, anatomy, and phylogenetic relationships based on nrITS sequences are all described in detail here.

Three new species of Agaricus from Baiyun Mountain, Guangzhou, China

ABSTRACT Agaricus is a species-rich genus with more than 600 species around the world. In this work, three new species, Agaricus cacainus, A. baiyunensis, and A. praeclarefibrillosus are described from the specimens collected at Baiyun Mountain, Guangzhou, China, a subtropical area with a monsoon maritime climate, based on phylogenetic analyses and morphological examinations of internal transcribed spacer (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 = ITS), D1/D2 domains of the large subunit of ribosomal DNA (28S), and a part of translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF1). Agaricus cacainus in A. sect. Amoeni is characterized by a parabolic to applanate, slightly depressed pileus covered with chocolate brown, appressed, triangular squamules against white background, a white, furfuraceous stipe, an unchanging context when cut, a fragile and evanescent annulus, usually 4- or 2-spored basidia, and mostly pyriform cheilocystidia. Agaricus baiyunensis in A. sect. Minores has a pileus with a slightly truncate top covered with light brown, downy-wooly fibrillose scales and a light yellowish stipe with membranous annulus. Agaricus praeclarefibrillosus in A. sect. Brunneopicti is characterized by a pileus surface with brownish, triangular, recurved scales and longitudinally splitting lines toward margin, a cottony stipe with white, tiny, recurved fibrils, a single annulus, and variously shaped cheilocystidia, with sparsely ornamented basidiospores. The detailed comparison of their morphological characteristics with closely related species is provided.

Six New Species of Agaricus (Agaricaceae, Agaricales) from Northeast China.

Agaricus belongs to Agaricaceae and is one of the most well-known macrofungi, with many edible species. More than 300 Agaricus specimens were collected during a three-year macrofungal resource field investigation in Northeast China. Based on morphological observations and multi-gene (ITS + nrLSU + tef1-a) phylogenetic analyses, six new Agaricus species, i.e., Agaricus aurantipileatus, A. daqinggouensis, A. floccularis, A. griseopileatus, A. sinoagrocyboides, and A. velutinosus, were discovered. These new species belong to four sections within different subgenera: A. (subg. Agaricus) sect. Agaricus, A. (subg. Flavoagaricus) sect. Arvenses, A. (subg. Minores) sect. Minores, and A. (subg. Pseudochitonia) sect. Xanthodermatei. Morphological descriptions, line illustrations, and basidiomata photographs of these new species are provided, and their differences from similar species are discussed.

Multigene phylogeny and morphological descriptions of five species of Agaricus sect. Minores from subtropical climate zones of Pakistan.

The genus Agaricus includes more than 500 species mostly containing the edible and cultivated species worldwide. As part of the ongoing studies on the biodiversity of genus Agaricus in Pakistan, our objective was to focus on A. sect. Minores which is the largest section of the genus. In the first phylogenetic analyses based on the ITS region of the nuclear ribosomal DNA, our sample included specimens of 97 named species, 27 unnamed species, and 31 specimens (29 newly generated sequences in this study) from subtropical climate zones of Pakistan that likely belong to this section based on their morphology. The 31 specimens grouped into five distinct, well-supported clades corresponding to five species: A. glabriusculus already known from Pakistan and India, A. robustulus first recorded from Pakistan and briefly described here but already known from Bénin, Malaysia, China, and Thailand, and three possibly endemic new species described in detail A. badiosquamulosus sp. nov., A. dunensis sp. nov., and A. violaceopunctatus sp. nov. The sixth species currently known in Pakistan, including A. latiumbonatus also found in Thailand, were included in a multigene tree based on ITS, LSU, and Tef-1α sequence data. They all belong to a large pantropical paraphyletic group while most temperate species belong to a distinct clade, which includes about half of the species of the section. The current study aims to propose three novel species of genus Agaricus based on comprehensive morphological as well as molecular phylogenetic evidences from Pakistan.

Agaricus sect. Xanthodermatei (Agaricales) of West Bengal, India

Four species of Agaricus (Agaricaceae, Basidiomycota) belonging to the A. sect. Xanthodermatei of A. subg. Pseudochitonia, viz. Agaricus punjabensis, A. endoxanthus, A. melanocarpus, and A. xanthodermulus, are described from West Bengal, India, based on morphological and molecular sequences (nrDNA ITS and LSU rDNA) data. Comprehensive descriptions, field photographs of the specimens, and comparisons with morphologically similar and phylogenetically related taxa are provided. Among the four taxa, Agaricus punjabensis, A. melanocarpus, and A. xanthodermulus represent their first records for India, and Agaricus endoxanthus is newly reported for the state of West Bengal.

Https://epg.science.cmu.ac.th/ejournal/journal-detail.php?id=11761

During t he investigation of Basidiomycetes at Qujing, Yunnan Province, China, some interesting mushroom specimens were collected at the Qujing Normal University premises. Based on their unique morphology, we preliminarily identified them as Agaricus species. Further analyses based on internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and micro-morphological characteristics confirmed that the collected specimens represent two known species viz. A. andrewii and A. xanthodermulus belonged to Agaricus sections Agaricus and Xanthodermatei, respectively. These two species are reported here as new records to China. Full Descriptions, color plates, and a phylogenetic tree to show the placement of two species are provided.

Cadmium in the wild edible mushroom species of Agaricus bitorquis in Leicester, UK

Background and Aim: Consumption of urban garden products is increasing despite the risks that they can represent due to high urban contamination. Effects of urbanisation in wild edible mushrooms are scarce. The aim was to assess the risks to cadmium (Cd) present in wild edible mushrooms Agaricus bitorquis collected in Leicester (UK). Methods: Twenty-two A. bitorquis mushrooms were collected from an open green area close to St Augustine Road, a high traffic area within Leicester. Species identification was confirmed by DNA barcoding using internal transcribed spacer 1/4 primers after extracting DNA from 100 mg of frozen homogenised ground mushroom material using DNeasy Plant Mini Kit®. Cd was monitored by ICP-MS in cleaned, dried and homogenised mushrooms’ caps and stipes mineralised with HNO3/H2O2 [LoD=0.081 mg/kg dry weight (dw)]. Results: Cd was detected in all samples, with significantly higher levels in caps (p<0.001), median and ranges are provided in mg/kg dw: 3.878 (2.213-6.598) vs. 2.068 (0.899-3.679). Concentrations were similar to those recently reported in different species of the genus Agaricus collected in urban habitats within Berlin (Germany; <0.1-32.7 mg/kg DW), but much higher than the reported in sixteen A. bisporus (median 0.2 mg/kg DW) cultivated in high traffic areas within Berlin. All caps monitored exceeded the established maximum concentration limit for Cd in Europe (0.2 mg/kg wet weight, approximately 2 mg/kg dw), in line with the high accumulative metal capability described in the literature for Agaricus spp. Non-carcinogenic health risks in adults and children for Cd in the monitored mushrooms were 3.16E-07 and 1.47E-09, respectively. Conclusions: Our results would suggest potential contamination by Cd in the inner city of Leicester that should be further investigated to protect human health. Although non-carcinogenic risks characterised for Cd were negligible, consumption of wild edible species should be limited and substituted by cultivated mushrooms when possible.

A new species of Agaricus (section Sanguinolenti) from Rome, Italy

A new species of Agaricus (section Sanguinolenti) from Rome, Italy

New species and new record in Agaricus subg. Minores from India

Two new species of Agaricus, namely A. midnapurensis and A. purpureosquamulosus, belonging to A. subg. Minores, are proposed here as new to science based on specimens collected in West Bengal, India. Agaricus midnapurensis is distinguished by its medium-sized basidiomata with a pileus covered by greyish brown to brown or dark brown squamules, ellipsoid to broadly ellipsoid basidiospores with a mean value of 7.3 × 5.4 µm, and broadly clavate to pyriform cheilocystidia, 22-28 × 10-14 µm. Agaricus purpureosquamulosus has purplish coloured pileus squamules, ellipsoid to elongate basidiospores with a mean value of 7.3 × 4.5 µm, and clavate cheilocystidia measuring 17-21 × 5-7 µm. In addition, A. glabriusculus is reported for the first time in India. Detailed morphological descriptions, field photographs of the collected basidiomata, comparisons with morphologically similar species and a phylogenetic tree based on the nrDNA ITS sequence data are provided

Multigene Phylogeny and Morphology Reveal Three Novel Species and a Novel Record of Agaricus From Northern Thailand.

Agaricus is a saprophytic mushroom genus widely distributed throughout the world. In this study, a survey of the Agaricus species carried out around Chiang Mai University in northern Thailand from 2018 to 2019 yielded 12 collections. Morphological characteristics and phylogenic analyses based on the internal transcribed spacers (ITS) and a fragment of the large subunit (LSU) of the nuclear ribosomal DNA (rDNA), and a fragment of the translation elongation factor 1-alpha (tef1) genes were investigated. The results revealed that these collections belong to six species including Agaricus erectosquamosus, Agaricus pallidobrunneus, Agaricus subrufescens, and three new species. Agaricus thailandensis sp. nov. was found to belong to Agaricus sect. Minores, which is placed in Agaricus subg. Minores. Aagricus pseudoerectosquamosus sp. nov. was placed in Agaricus sect. Brunneopicti within Agaricus subg. Pseudochitonia. Furthermore, Agaricus lannaensis remains an incertae sedis in Agaricus subg. Pseudochitonia. Additionally, this study was proposed that A. pallidobrunneus was discovered in Thailand for the first time. Full descriptions, color photographs, illustrations, and phylogenetic trees are provided.

Cultivation and identification of blazeispirols of Agaricus campestroides and A. flocculosipes

The genus Agaricus contains many edible and medicinal mushrooms; and some of them are used for commercial purposes. Most Agaricus species have been described from temperate geographic areas, but their occurrence in the tropics is still underexplored. The present study describes the successful cultivation of two wild strains from Thailand, A. flocculopsipes and A. campestroides for the first time. The optimal conditions for mycelial growth have been evaluated for both strains, formation of basidiomata on compost could only be observed for A. campestroides. In the present study, mycelial growth and mushroom production conditions were optimized. The temperature range of 25–30 °C with 80–90% humidity was assessed as preferred conditions for primordia and basidiomata formation in a compost rice straw medium with sandy-soil casing layer. Blazeispirols (blazeispirol A and D), a family of triterpenoids that is known to act as selective agonists of Liver X receptor alpha with beneficial effects in vivo in a murine model, were detected in crude extracts from submerged cultures of A. campestroides and A. flocculosipes.

Mycoparasite Hypomyces odoratus infests Agaricus xanthodermus fruiting bodies in nature

Mycopathogens are serious threats to the crops in commercial mushroom cultivations. In contrast, little is yet known on their occurrence and behaviour in nature. Cobweb infections by a conidiogenous Cladobotryum-type fungus identified by morphology and ITS sequences as Hypomyces odoratus were observed in the year 2015 on primordia and young and mature fruiting bodies of Agaricus xanthodermus in the wild. Progress in development and morphologies of fruiting bodies were affected by the infections. Infested structures aged and decayed prematurely. The mycoparasites tended by mycelial growth from the surroundings to infect healthy fungal structures. They entered from the base of the stipes to grow upwards and eventually also onto lamellae and caps. Isolated H. odoratus strains from a diseased standing mushroom, from a decaying overturned mushroom stipe and from rotting plant material infected mushrooms of different species of the genus Agaricus while Pleurotus ostreatus fruiting bodies were largely resistant. Growing and grown A. xanthodermus and P. ostreatus mycelium showed degrees of resistance against the mycopathogen, in contrast to mycelium of Coprinopsis cinerea. Mycelial morphological characteristics (colonies, conidiophores and conidia, chlamydospores, microsclerotia, pulvinate stroma) and variations of five different H. odoratus isolates are presented. In pH-dependent manner, H. odoratus strains stained growth media by pigment production yellow (acidic pH range) or pinkish-red (neutral to slightly alkaline pH range).

The known species of Agaricus (Agaricales, Agaricaceae) in Mexico, an updated and nomenclatural review

Background: The available information on the genus Agaricus in Mexico is dispersed in numerous publications. This work constitutes the second revision of the genus in Mexico.
 Objectives: To update the knowledge of Agaricus genus, its uses, habitat and distribution as well as the nomenclatural review of each name. In addition, a key for the recognition of subgenera and sections present in Mexico is provided.
 Methods: An exhaustive bibliographic review of the mycological literature was carried out. For the nomenclatural review, the rules of the International Code of Nomenclature in force were applied.
 Results and conclusion: In total, 53 nomenclaturally validly published names were catalogued distributed across 28 states. Five species have been originally described from the country: Agaricus guzmanii, A. tephrolepidus (described also from Dominican Republic), A. tlaxcalensis, A. tollocanensis and A. xuchilensis. Agaricus sylvaticus was the most widely distributed species (21 states). Veracruz state showed the highest diversity (22 species). The highest diversity was recorded in the cloud forest (18 species). Mexico possesses approximately 10% of the worldwide genus diversity which is low considering the high diversity in adjacent countries, therefore, efforts to know the real diversity of the genus in Mexico should be made.

Study in Agaricus section Minores in Pakistan with the description of two new species

Agaricus section Minores, which belongs to A. subgenus Minores, is the most speciose section in genus Agaricus. Collections from lowland northern Pakistan presumably belonging to this section were included in phylogenetic analyses based on nuclear rDNA sequences of internal transcribed spacer and 28S regions. The analyses revealed that these collections belong to two novel species of A. sect. Minores. Agaricus glabriusculus and Agaricus latiumbonatus are subsequently described in detail and compared to closely related or resembling taxa. This is the first report of A. sect. Minores from Pakistan; with this study, the number of known species of Agaricus in the country increases to 26.

The genus Agaricus in the Caribbean. Nine new taxa mostly based on collections from the Dominican Republic

Field collections of Agaricus were collected in the Dominican Republic from 2009–2016 with the intent to evaluate the diversity in this genus, which was quasi-unknown in this country. In the same period, studies on tropical Agaricus revealed tropical clades that remained unclassified. A new taxonomic system of classification was developed, with the aim, inter alia, to integrate such tropical clades. A recent phylogenetic study, which included some samples from the Dominican Republic, revealed they belonged to three putative new sections. Our objective in this paper is to describe the species of Agaricus collected in this country and to classify them whitin the new taxonomic system, including formal descriptions of the three new sections to which they belong. A preliminary study indicated that the collections of the Dominican Republic belong either to a group of three related subgenera (Flavoagaricus, Minores, and Minoriopsis) or to the unrelated A. subg. Pseudochitonia. For the species of the three related subgenera, a phylogenetic analysis based on ITS sequences data reliably confirmed the classification of the species into five sections including the three new sections, which were well supported. For the collections of A. subg. Pseudochitonia, preliminary studies indicated that they all belonged to species of A. sect. Xanthodermatei without any doubt except for one species. This species was included in a multi-gene (ITS, LSU and tef-1α) phylogenetic analysis which confirmed placement in this section. Consequently, all the samples were included in a phylogenetic analysis based on ITS sequences and focusing on A. sect. Xanthodermatei. We noted an unusually high intraspecific variability in the ITS sequences of five of the 12 studied species. Fifteen taxa are described, among which three sections and six species are new for science: Agaricus sect. Kerrigania, Agaricus sect. Minoriopsis, Agaricus sect. Pantropicales, A. argenteopurpureus, A. candussoi, A. flavidodiscus, A. lodgeae, A. porphyropos and A. tephrolepidus. We report all these taxa from the Dominican Republic but the latter three species are also recorded from Puerto Rico, United States Virgin Islands, and Mexico, respectively.

Nanoparticles synthesis by Agaricus soil basidiomycetes

We examined the effect of various concentrations of HAuCl4, AgNO3, Na2SeO3, Na2SiO3, and GeO2 on mycelial growth of the soil basidiomycetes Agaricus bisporus and A.arvensis in submerged and solid media. Fungal mycelial extracts and cell-free culture filtrates were able to reduce ions of Au, Ag, Se, Si, and Ge compounds, forming Au0, Ag0, Se0, Si0/SiO2 and Ge0/GeO2 nanoparticles. The physical characteristics of the mycogenic nanoparticles differed depending on the species of Agaricus and the type of extract. Au nanospheres obtained with cell-free culture filtrates were of 2-5nm diameter in A.bisporus and of 2-10nm in A.arvensis. Nanoparticles produced by extracts of mycelia were several times larger and highly heterogenous. Ag nanoparticles produced by cell-free culture filtrates were spherical or irregular-shaped and agglomerated, whereas with extracts of mycelia, small homogenous nanospheres of 1-10nm were formed. Se nanospheres obtained with cell-free culture filtrates were of 100-250nm diameter in A.bisporus and of 150-550nm diameter in A.arvensis. The particles synthesized with extracts of mycelia were of 40-140nm in A.bisporus and of 100-250nm in A.arvensis. Incubation of Na2SiO3 with cell-free culture filtrates resulted in porous Si nanoparticles of 30-65nm in A.bisporus and of 50-200nm in A.arvensis. Ge nanoparticles synthesized by both Agaricus species were mostly spheres of 50-250nm diameter.