Penicillium hermansii, a new species causing smoky mould in white button mushroom production

White button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus (Lange) Imbach, is the most extensively cultivated and edible mushroom worldwide. The production of A. bisporus is commonly affected by wet bubble disease (WBD) imposing a significant economic burden in China. Although studies have shown that this disease is caused by fungi of Mycogone genus, the pathogen has not been fully characterized. In this study, 802 samples of diseased fruiting bodies of A. bisporus were collected from nine major mushroom-cultivating provinces in China, yielding a total of 586 Mycogone isolates. The morphological characteristics of these isolates were observed and compared, and multi-locus phylogenetic analyses (ITS, ACT, TEF1-α, TUB, RPB2, and LSU) were performed on the selected representative isolates. Three Mycogone species were identified: a new species M. xinjiangensis, M. perniciosa, and M. rosea. Mycogone rosea was the first-ever reported in China. Furthermore, M. rosea was found to be the most prevalent species (54.95% of all isolates) in all the sampled areas, except in Hubei and Xinjiang, followed by M. perniciosa (39.93%) and M. xinjiangensis (5.12%). Pathogenicity tests on the fruiting body and mushroom bed substantiated Koch’s postulates developing mildly different symptoms after inoculation with each species. This study, therefore, enhances our knowledge of the species associated with WBD in A. bisporus and provides useful insights for preventing WBD and allied diseases.

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Evaluation of energy requirements of an industrial scale plant for the cultivation of white button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus)

Journal of Agricultural Engineering ◽

10.4081/jae.2020.1000 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 51 (2) ◽

pp. 57-63

Author(s):

Roberto Beghi ◽

Valentina Giovenzana ◽

Alessio Tugnolo ◽

Domenico Pessina ◽

Riccardo Guidetti

Keyword(s):

Agaricus Bisporus ◽

Cooling System ◽

Energy Requirement ◽

Energy Requirements ◽

Energetic Efficiency ◽

Production Cycle ◽

Production Plant ◽

Button Mushroom ◽

Mushroom Production ◽

White Button Mushroom

The white button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) industry is paying attention to innovation for a more sustainable production and it is getting sophisticated to reach high grade of energetic efficiency coupled with high quality product. For mushroom cultivation the environmental conditions must be controlled therefore in some phases the heat needs to be provided and in other ones it needs to be removed. The objective of this study was to investigate the current growing methodology used at an industrial mushroom farm site for a quantification of energy consumption. Mushroom growing parameters such as temperature and relative humidity were monitored during the production process placing sensors for a continuous data recording of these parameters in different and crucial positions throughout the entire production cycle. Heat is massively produced by the compost/mycelium system and the goal was to quantify the amount of energy needed to remove it through a cooling system and a forced air system that pulls cold air in the cultivation room and picks up the warmer and more humid air. Often, the heat produced by the cultivation room is not enough to reach the optimal growth conditions. In this case the application of an air heating system is necessary. The study was focused on evaluating the energy exchanges during a 41-day period corresponding to a growth cycle of three flushes to quantify the energy requirements of the conditioning system. A total energy of 5483 kWh/cycle was quantified for a mushroom production of 25,000 kg, corresponding to a specific energy requirement of 0.22 kWh/kg, 0.18 for cooling and 0.04 for heating. Results showed that the electric power consumption represents a crucial cost for the mushroom production, therefore an optimization of the energy requirements of the production plant is desirable and it can lead to relevant economic savings. A scenario considering a more efficient air conditioning system was proposed for a more sustainable mushroom production.

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