Detection of a Virus Disease on White Button Mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) in Ankara, Turkey

Numerous virus-like symptoms including reduced yield, deformed and brownish sporophores were observed on white button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus) at a mushroom house in Ankara. The disease agent detection was accomplished using growth tests of mycelium on agar, direct electron microscopy and double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) analysis. Diseased sporophore tissues were grown on potato dextrose agar (PDA) and brown colonies developed irregularly and slowly on PDA. Agarose gel electrophoresis of total nucleic acid fractions revealed the presence of three dsRNAs in diseased sporophores. Rod-shaped particles (34 nm) in diseased mushrooms were observed. These findings proved a virus infection in diseased mushrooms in Ankara. Our results showed that disease was likely to be La France disease caused by La France virus. This is the first record of presence of a virus infection in Central Anatolia Region in Turkey. © 2010 Friends Science Publishers