• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.91-95
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• 2011

Pleurotus ostreatus, the oyster mushroom, is one of the most important edible mushrooms. It is especially susceptible to bacterial blotch disease, which is caused by Pseudomonas tolaasii. In order to develop bacterial blotch disease-resistant transgenic mushroom, NUECIN cDNA, a gene for an antibacterial peptide cloned from Bombyx mori, was overexpressed in Pleurotus ostreatus. NUECIN cDNA was fused to the ${\beta}$-TUBULIN promoter of oyster mushroom and co-transformed with the pTRura3-2 vector into the uracil auxotrophic mutant strain. Twelve transformants containing the NUECIN gene were identified by genomic PCR and Southern blot analysis. NUECIN gene expression was confirmed by Northern blot analysis. Three transformants showed the transcriptional expression of the gene. However, we could not detect expression of the protein in the transformants. This study showed the possibility of transgenic mushroom development for disease resistance.

• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.285-295
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• 2011

Mushrooms belonging to macrofungi have been consumed by humans for their nutritional and medicinal values for centuries throughout the world. Mushroom farming is practiced in more than 100 countries of the world, with production increasing at a rate of 7% per annum. High yield and good quality are always the principal goals for agriculturally important crops, including mushrooms. Several breeding methods are employed for strain improvement such as mass selection based on the natural chance mutation and induced mutation (mutation breeding), protoplast fusion technology, cross breeding and transgenic breeding. However, mutation breeding has shown prominent success in crop plant improvement. Though several-hundred mutant crop varieties have been developed around the world, the mutation breeding of mushrooms is limited. This review paper explores the potential application of radiation on the development of mutant varieties of mushrooms for breeding with desired traits such as better quality and productivity.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.271-276
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• 2009

Functional gene studies in the cultivated white button mushroom Agaricus bisporus have been constrained by the absence of effective gene-silencing tools. Using two endogenous genes from A. bisporus, we have tested the utility of dsRNA hairpin constructs to mediate downregulation of specific genes. Hairpin constructs for genes encoding orotidine 5'-monophosphate decarboxylase (URA3) and carboxin resistance (CBX) were introduced into A. bisporus using Agrobacteriummediated transfection. Although predicted changes in phenotype were not observed in vitro, quantitative-PCR analyses indicated unambiguously that transcripts in several transformants were substantially reduced compared with the non-transformed controls. Interestingly, some hairpin transformants exhibited increased transcription of target genes. Our observations show that hairpin transgenic sequences can mediate downregulation of A. bisporus endogenous genes and that the technology has the potential to expedite functional genomics of the mushroom.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.138-147
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• 2011

Xylogone ganodermophthora, an ascomycetous fungus, is known to cause yellow rot in the cultivated mushroom Ganoderma lucidum. In this study, we investigated the dissemination of this fungal pathogen in G. lucidum grown in cultivation houses. To determine the role of ascospores produced by X. ganodermophthora in disease development, we constructed a green fluorescent protein-labeled transgenic strain. This X. ganodermophthora strain produced a number of ascomata in the tissues of oak logs on which G. lucidum had been grown and on the mushroom fruit bodies. However, the ascospores released from the ascomata were not able to germinate on water agar or potato dextrose agar. Moreover, less than 0.1% of the ascospores showed green fluorescence, indicating that most ascospores of X. ganodermophthora were not viable. To determine the manner in which X. ganodermophthora disseminates, diseased oak logs were either buried in isolated soil beds as soil-borne inocula or placed around soil beds as air-borne inocula. In addition, culture bottles in which G. lucidum mycelia had been grown were placed on each floor of a five-floor shelf near X. ganodermophthora inocula. One year after cultivation, yellow rot occurred in almost all of the oak logs in the soil beds, including those in beds without soil-borne inocula. In contrast, none of the G. lucidum in the culture bottles was infected, suggesting that dissemination of X. ganodermophthora can occur via the cultivation soil.