Control of Fungal Diseases in Mushroom Crops while Dealing with Fungicide Resistance: A Review

Abstract

Mycoparasites cause heavy losses in commercial mushroom farms worldwide. The negative impact of fungal diseases such as dry bubble (Lecanicillium fungicola), cobweb (Cladobotryum spp.), wet bubble (Mycogone perniciosa), and green mold (Trichoderma spp.) constrains yield and harvest quality while reducing the cropping surface or damaging basidiomes. Currently, in order to fight fungal diseases, preventive measurements consist of applying intensive cleaning during cropping and by the end of the crop cycle, together with the application of selective active substances with proved fungicidal action. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the redundant application of the same fungicides has been conducted to the occurrence of resistant strains, hence, reviewing reported evidence of resistance occurrence and introducing unconventional treatments is worthy to pave the way towards the design of integrated disease management (IDM) programs. This work reviews aspects concerning chemical control, reduced sensitivity to fungicides, and additional control methods, including genomic resources for data mining, to cope with mycoparasites in the mushroom industry.

Biological Control of Fungal Diseases by Trichoderma aggressivum f. europaeum and Its Compatibility with Fungicides

“…Williams et al [51] developed a selective medium for Trichoderma isolation from commercial Agaricus bisporus composts containing propamocarb and discarded captan for inhibiting sporulation. Other studies have analysed the sensitivity to chemical active substances or biological agents [49], and T. aggressivum f. europaeum has been applied as a biocontrol agent only sporadically; therefore, no compatibility studies have been performed on this species with fungicides commonly used to control diseases in horticultural crops. Our study provides information on the compatibility of T. aggressivum f. europaeum TAET1 against different doses of fungicides in vitro.…”

“…As a result of mycoparasitism, many species of Trichoderma, including those indicated above, have been identified as causative agents of the disease known as green mould in mushroom crops in different countries [41][42][43][44][45][46][47]. T. pleurotum and T. pleuroticola have been detected in P. ostreatus [48], T. aggressivum in Agaricus bisporus [49], and T. harzianum, T. longibrachiatum, Trichoderma ghanense, T. asperellum, and T. atroviride in Agaricus compost substrates and Pleurotus, although they are not particularly aggressive [41]. One of these species, T. aggressivum f. europaeum Samuels & W. Gams, previously known as T. harzianum Th2 biotype, is responsible for Agaricus green mould problems in Europe [50].…”

Major Fungal Contaminants of Mushrooms and Their Management

“…(Biswas and Kuiry, 2013;Fletcher and Gaze, 2008). These contaminants deteriorate quality and damage basidiomes ultimately leading to reduced production and sometimes complete failure of the crop (Gea et al, 2021).…”

Effects of Essential Oils on in Vitro Growth of Fungi Cladobotryum dendroides and Mycogone perniciosa Infecting Button Mushroom

“…Agaricus bisporus fruit bodies infected with M. perniciosa become large and irregular, and tumorous fungal masses are formed. The exudation of the accumulated extracellular fluid is observed on the surface of diseased mushrooms [4][5][6]. The wet bubble disease occurs quite frequently and may induce from 10 to 46 % loss in yield, especially if infection occurs in the first flush [4].…”

“…Cobweb disease, caused by Cladobotryum spp., is characterized by the growth of a coarse mycelium covering affected mushrooms. As it ages, the white mycelium becomes pink [6][7][8][9]. Occurrence of cobweb in commercial crops results in reductions in yield and quality, mainly due to cap spotting, a lesser surface area that can be used for cultivation and to the need for early crop termination when the disease becomes epidemic [10].…”