BACKGROUND: Agaricus bisporus is the premier cultivated edible mushroom but is usually considered to be of lesser value nutritionally and medicinally compared with other cultivated mushrooms. The objective of this study was to investigate the radical-scavenging properties of methanolic extracts and the free radical-processing enzyme activities of water extracts from A. bisporus fruit bodies. Analyses were performed on total fruit bodies from three strains and on separated stipe, cap and gills from one strain, all cultivated experimentally under the same conditions.

The fungal pathogen Lecanicillium fungicola (formerly Verticillium fungicola) is responsible for severe losses worldwide in the mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) industry. Infected crops are characterised by masses of undifferentiated tissue (bubbles) growing in place of sporophores. The expression of three laccase genes (lcc1, lcc2 and lcc3), two tyrosinase genes (AbPPO1 and AbPPO2) and the hspA gene encoding a heat-shock protein known to be potentially associated with host-pathogen interaction was investigated in mycelial aggregates and during the development of healthy sporophores and bubbles of a susceptible cultivar. The lcc3, AbPPO2 and hspA genes were each expressed at different levels at the different stages of sporophore morphogenesis, whilst they showed a stable expression throughout bubble development. The transcript levels were similar in bubbles and at the first developmental stage of healthy fruiting bodies, both showing no tissue differentiation. These observations suggest that lcc3, AbPPO2 and hspA are associated with A. bisporus morphogenesis. Comparing the expression of the hspA gene in three susceptible and three tolerant strains showed that the latter displayed a higher level of transcript in the primordium, which is the stage receptive to the pathogen. The six strains exhibited a comparable expression in the vegetative mycelium, non-receptive to L. fungicola.

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