Abstract:

The aim is to investigate the molecular mechanism of sexual reproduction including mating type switching in Agrocybe aegerita. Homokaryon offspring isolated from Agrocybe aegerita YSG strain was employed in this study. Based on the genome annotation, B mating locus was identified using overlapping primers. Primer pairs for B mating genes were used for amplifying the monokaryotic population, and the amplification spectrum was compared with mating type. The results showed: (1) three types including mycelia, capless and stripe-like fruiting bodies occurred after the cultivation of homokaryon, and the latter two were the abnormal fruiting bodies without going through the sexual reproduction; (2) the amplified spectrum using the primer pairs based on the mating gene sequences showed that the complete B mating locus was inherited into the offspring strains without recombination event occurrence; (3) mating type analysis showed that B mating locus governed the mating behavior, and new mating type was not found. It is inferred that Agrocybe aegerita YSG only contained one B mating locus, which is also different from the three reported sublocus. More fruiting tests and mating loci identification are needed for clarifying whether the differences are caused by the group varieties.

Key words: Agrocybe aegerita, homokaryon fruiting, B mating gene, mating type switching, sexual reproduction