Biotech Updates

Scientists Sequence Mushroom Genome

October 24, 2012

A consortium of 20 research groups, led by the Wageningen UR's Plant Research International has mapped the entire genome of the Agaricus bisporus (button mushroom). This breakthrough opens a lot of research opportunities for sustainable mushroom production and health-promoting substances in the crop.

The unravelled genome shows how mushrooms break down the complex substrate, an insight which is especially relevant for the development of a more efficient and sustainable production of this type of edible mushroom. Wageningen UR Plant Breeding scientist Anton Sonnenberg added that the newly available knowledge is also significant in understanding how the mushroom mycelium can be triggered to form small buds that develop into mushrooms. He explained that this budding is one of the most important processes in cultivation and being able to better control this process is a dream of every mushroom grower.

View Wageningen UR's news release at http://www.wageningenur.nl/en/show/The-unravelled-mushroom-genome-offers-many-opportunities.htm. See the article in Dutch at http://www.wageningenur.nl/nl/show/Ontrafeling-van-het-champignongenoom-biedt-vele-kansen.htm.