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Abstract: The Netherlands, in addition to Britain and Ireland, has experienced symptoms in cultivated Agaricus bisporus associated with mushroom virus X (MVX) disease. Of the various symptom syndromes described for MVX, brown discolored mushrooms were almost exclusively observed. Mushroom samples from crops showing symptoms contained many dsRNAs, the genetic components of fungal viruses. The larger dsRNAs also were detected in asymptomatic crops. The smaller dsRNAs, however, were only present in crops with brown discolored mushrooms and were, therefore, designated as diagnostic dsRNAs. There was a strong correlation between the concentration of these dsRNAs and the intensity of the discoloration. The results of hybridization experiments showed that the four diagnostic bands did not share similar sequences. They also did not share sequences with the larger dsRNAs, indicating the presence of multiple viruses in mushroom crops. There was some variation in the number of the larger dsRNAs. The four diagnostic segments, however, were always present together, indicating that they might represent one virus. Despite being diagnostic for browning, we still do not know if a virus (es) is the causative agent for the symptoms or just a result of an unknown external stress.
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