Cytological studies of Agaricus brasiliensis

• Published in: World journal of microbiology & biotechnology Vol. 24; no. 11; pp. 2473 - 2479
• Main Authors: Souza Dias, Eustáquio, Labory, Cláudia Regina Gontijo, Herrera, Karina Marjorie Silva, Alves, Alexandre Alonso, Torres, Giovana Augusta, Rinker, Danny Lee
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Dordrecht : Springer Netherlands 01-11-2008; Springer Netherlands; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agaricus; Agaricus blazei; Applied Microbiology; Biochemistry; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biotechnology; Cellular biology; Cytology; Environmental Engineering/Biotechnology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Life Sciences; Microbiology; Microscopy; Mushrooms; Original Paper; Stains & staining; Studies; Nuclei number; Life cycle; Heterothallism; Basidiospore number; Nuclear behavior; Fungi; Agaricus; Agaricus subrufescens; Basidiomycota; Agaricus blazei
• ISSN: 0959-3993; 1573-0972
• DOI: 10.1007/s11274-008-9769-4

Agaricus brasiliensis is a medicinal mushroom native to Brazil. It was first identified as Agaricus blazei and its scientific name continues to be debated. We examined the cytology of different Brazilian commercial strains of A. brasiliensis and the nuclear behavior of strain CS1 during basidiospore development using fluorescent microscopy. All strains have multinucleate hyphae and no significant differences in nuclei numbers were observed between them. Basidia from A. brasiliensis strain CS1 are typically tetrasporics and produce binucleate basidiospores, demonstrating that a postmeiotic mitosis occurs during basidiospore development. This result suggests that A. brasiliensis is primarily a heterothallic species.