Sexual and Other Relationships in the Genus Agaricus

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Abstract
Thirty-three collections of Agaricus from nature and several strains of cultivated A. bisporus were compared by 16 criteria including type of sexuality, interfertility patterns, macroscopic and microscopic morphology, growth and cultural characteristics, production of extracellular enzymes and isoenzyme patterns for 1 enzyme. [Species studied were A. edulis, A. bitorquis, A. campestris, A. rodmani, A. arvensis, A. subrufescens, A. augustus, A. sylvaticus, A. abruptibulbus, A. bisporus, A. bernardii and A. subpernotus.] All but three of the collections fell into 6 distinct groups as defined with respect to all criteria examined. Members within each group are clearly related, but relationships between groups could not be established. Sexuality and interfertility patterns are important criteria for distinguishing relatedness among the collections. The correlations observed provide a new and useful base of reference for the classification of members of the genus Agaricus. Several aspects of the basic biology of the genus were also revealed.