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The Agaricus Resource Program was started in 1988 to discover, collect, characterize, study, document, distribute, and preserve wild strains of the cultivated mushroom species Agaricus bisporus and other closely related species of the genus Agaricus. A. bisporus is commonly known as the 'button mushroom' or 'champignon de Paris' (and, recently, 'portabella' or 'portobello'). It was first cultivated in Paris, France in the 17th century. The techniques of growing this delicious and valuable edible fungus spread to other European countries and subsequently to most of the inhabited countries of the world. Starter cultures, called 'spawn', spread with the growers. As a result, European strains of this mushroom are grown worldwide. In fact, all button mushrooms now grown commercially are derived from only a few popular European strains. A related consequence is that spores and mycelium of the European button mushroom strains have escaped (from mushroom farms and from ordinary kitchens) into nature in many regions of the Earth. Until the late 1980s it was believed by many scientists that A. bisporus was a strictly European species, and that when it was found elsewhere it had simply escaped from cultivation. In fact, some European scientists doubted that natural A. bisporus could still be found in Europe. Beginning in 1989, however, genetic analysis of mushrooms growing wild in California and elsewhere provided solid evidence that non-European populations of this mushroom species existed. By the mid 1990s it was clear that five distinct populations (at least) exist: Europe, Israel, Alberta, Coastal California, and Desert California. Each has genetic differences from the others, and one, from the Palm Springs, CA area, has a distinctive anatomy and life cycle as well. Populations with less distinctive genetic differences are known from Russia and Greece (unpublished data), and specimens (without genetic data) have been reported from Morocco, Congo, Australia, and Tasmania. Samples from other countries, including China, appear to have European origins. It is a safe bet that more unique wild populations of A. bisporus exist, undiscovered, somewhere in the world. These mushrooms are interesting for what they can tell us about mushroom evolution. They are also a useful resource for mushroom breeding. |
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