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Abstract: Two principal ways are under consideration to improve the control of Agaricus dry bubble caused by Verticillium fungicola, (i)screening for specific fungicides and (ii)breeding for resistant or less susceptible strains. Our aim was to breed for resistance. The current test used to assess resistance is based on inoculation of the casing layer with spores of Verticillium. This procedure, although giving results correlated to naturally occurring disease, was unsuitable for screening hundreds of Agaricus strains. We have tried to develop a new, easier, and more rapid test. Sporocarps were harvested at stage 2, and caps were inoculated with a spore suspension of V. fungicola. After a 54-hr incubation, the extent of the symptoms observed at the cap surface was correlated to the percentage of diseased mushrooms developed in the former test, after inoculation of the casing soil. The first results concerning in vitro evaluation of the antibiotic-like effect of Agaricus mycelium on the germination of Verticillium spores and its possible relation to resistance were presented. From both procedures, resistant and highly susceptible strains of A. bisporus can easily be identified. In contrast, reliable identification of moderately susceptible strains appeared difficult.
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