A phytohemagglutinin has been isolated in 80 to 90% purity from the mushroom Agaricus campestris. This protein had a sedimentation constant of 4.2 S and an electrophoretic mobility, at pH 8.6, remindful of the properties of a fast y-globulin. It was a nonspecific agglutinin reacting with erythrocytes and leukocytes from a number of species. The hemagglutination reaction was independent of tempe...

Agaricus blazei Murrill extracts have previously been shown to have anticarcinogenic and antimutagenic properties. These results suggest that antimutagenic activity, besides the modulation of the immune system, might be involved in the anticarcinogenic action of A. blazei. To investigate the possible antimutagenic effect of A. blazei in vivo, we evaluated its effect on clastogenicity induced by...

Twenty seven bacterial isolates were isolated from superficial brown discolorations on the caps of cultivated Agaricus bisporus. After White Line Assay (WLA) and the assist of Biolog computer-identification system, isolates were divided into groups: (I) comprised ninteen bacterial isolates that positively responded to a Pseudomonas "reactans" reference strain (NCPPB1311) in WLA and were identif...

Agaricus blazei is widely accepted as a traditional medicinal mushroom, and it has been known to exhibit immunostimulatory and anti-cancer activity. However, the apoptotic mechanism in cancer cells is poorly understood. In this study, we have investigated whether A. blazei extract (ABE) exerts antiproliferative and apoptotic effects in human leukemic THP-1 cells. We observed that ABE-induced ap...

Agaricus subgenus Spissicaules is widely distributed in the world. In this study, 114 specimens were included multigene phylogenetic analyses that allowed a better circumscription of four sections A. subg. Spissicaules. Three new species from China, brunneovariabilis, beijingensis, and planiceps, are described placed different sections. The invalidly catenariocystidiosus validated here as an ad...

Agaricus bisporus has a high nutritional value and health benefits its popularity is increasing among vegans health-conscious consumers, indicating the need for stable production. Therefore, we examined bacterial flora of substrates used to produce A. using 16S rRNA gene ana­lysis discussed relationship between yield. The results obtained showed that yield slightly decreased with an increase in...

A new technique for the production of hybrid strains of the cultivated mushroom Agaricus brunnescens is described. Homokaryons were recovered from regenerated protoplasts obtained from several heterokaryotic strains. A total of 16 novel hybrids were produced in 63 attempted crosses between paired homokaryons. Recovery of both homokaryons and hybrids was verified by analysis of restriction fragm...

The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the nuclear ribosomal RNA gene cluster is widely used in fungal taxonomy and phylogeographic studies. The medicinal and edible mushroom Agaricus subrufescens has a worldwide distribution with a high level of polymorphism in the ITS region. A previous analysis suggested notable ITS sequence heterogeneity within the wild French isolate CA487. The ob...

Mushroom (Agaricus blazei Murill) extract has been reported to possess antitumor effects through immune activation. Here, we investigated the beneficial effects of combining A. blazei extract with marine phospholipids in comparison to A. blazei extract alone on myeloma sp2 tumor suppression when orally administrated. The experimental groups designed for sp2 tumor bearing BALB/c nu/nu mice were ...

Agaricus bisporus fruit bodies affected by La France disease contain a specific set of nine dsRNA molecules. A method was developed to isolate intact virus particles containing these dsRNAs. Using precautions to limit proteolysis, virus particles 34 nm in diameter were banded in a Nycodenz gradient together with the nine disease-associated dsRNAs and three proteins of M(r) 120K, 115K and 90K. T...