In: Sydowia 71, (2019): 0091-0101, ISSN 0082-0598, DOI 10.12905/0380.sydowia71-2019-0091, Published online on June 6, 2019

Genetic diversity and physiological relatedness amongst 30 strains of Lentinula edodes

Ved Parkash Sharma, Mamta Gupta, Shwet Kamal, Shweta Sharma, Sudheer Aneppu, Satish Kumar & Sanjeev K. Sanyal

Sharma V.P., Gupta M., Kamal S., Sharma S., Aneppu S., Kumar S. & Sanyal S.K. (2019) Genetic diversity and physiological relatedness amongst 30 strains of Lentinula edodes. – Sydowia 71: 91–101.

A total of 35 strains of shiitake mushroom, Lentinula edodes, obtained from culture bank of ICAR-Directorate of Mushroom Research, Solan, were identified using ITS 5.8S rDNA sequences. Out of them, 30 were found to be true L. edodes. The accessions varied in their morphological characteristics and growth responses (radial growth and downward linear growth) at different temperature and substrates. The differences in growth responses were also used to assess genetic and physiological relatedness of the strains. The L. edodes strains showed high heterogeneity. The diversity studies amongst 30 strains were undertaken using ITS 5.8S rDNA sequences and short sequence repeat and inter-retroelement amplified polymorphism markers. A large genetic diversity amongst the test L. edodes strains was revealed by analysis of physiological requirements and genetics, which can be tapped for identifying the strains for different climates and substrates. Also, this huge genetic diversity can be used to breed better quality, stress tolerant and high yielding strains.

Keywords: Shiitake mushroom, genetic variability, ITS, SSR, IRAP