ANALYSIS OF FUNGI IN MUSHROOM COMPOST USING PCR AND TGGE OF RIBOSOMAL DNA

Introduction　　 Preparation of a uniform and productive sub-strate forthe growth of Agaricusbisporusis impor-tant in commercial edible mushroom production.The traditional production of synthetic compostforthe growth of Agaricus bisporus consists of an un-controlled outdoor composting process called phase ,followed by an indoor,temperature- controlledprocess called phase . Phase involves a pas-teurisation followed by substrate conditioning,which promotes the selectivity of the compost fo…

ANALYSIS OF FUNGI IN MUSHROOM COMPOST USING PCR AND TGGE OF RIBOSOMAL DNA

The fungal communities in mushroom compost phase Ⅱ was assessed using a combination of PCR amplification and sequencing of 18S rDNA from fungal isolates and "nested" PCR-TGGE analysis on the basis of DNA directly extracted from compost samples. The diversity of cultivated fungi isolated from compost samples was low. A total of 11 isolates were related to only 2 different species. One species, Chaetomium elatum, was identified within 10 isolates, and the other, with high similarity belonged to Penicillium expansum. The fungal flora associated with mushroom compost was then monitored with "nested" PCR-TGGE. The patterns obtained revealed the more complex existence of fungal communities from the original compost samples than from thoses enriched with food waste and cow slurry.