Molecular differentiation of sexually incompatible strains of Agaricus bitorquis using RAPD and AFLP markers

Twenty RAPD primers amplified 216 DNA fragments in nine germplasm strains and two newly developed hybrids of Agaricus bitorquis, out of which 98.61% were polymorphic. Six AFLP primer-combinations generated a total of 271 AFLP fragments in nine germplasm strains and six newly developed hybrids, out of which 91.14% were polymorphic. Dendrograms based on UPGMA algorithm and SAHN clustering clearly showed two major phylogenetic groups with both the DNA markers in the germplasm and the hybrids clustered with their parental groups. Genetic similarity between the two groups was 6.52% with RAPD and 18.13% with AFLP markers. Ten most informative primers were identified for initial screening of uncharacterized germplasm using RAPD analysis. Further, AFLP revealed a great power of detection of genetic diversity and validated its usefulness for guiding breeding programmes. The findings are of immediate value to breeders to explore hybridization between genetically diverse parents within the sexually compatible groups. Present study is the first report on the exploitation of AFLP markers in button mushroom for molecular characterization and mushroom breeding.