Magic mushrooms! Button mushroom help manage planet's carbon stores

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The button mushroom occupies a prominent place in our diet and in grocery shops, while in nature, Agaricus bisporus is known to decay leaf matter on the forest floor.

button mushroom researchThe analysis of the inner workings of the world’s most cultivated mushroom has been published online in the journal, the Proceedings for the National Academy of Science (PNAS) following an international collaboration involving Dr Dan Eastwood of Swansea University’s College of Science and led by the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) and the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI).

In particular, this new work shows how the A. bisporus genes are actually deployed not only in leaf decay but also wood decay and in the development of fruiting bodies, which is the above ground part of the mushroom harvested for food.

 The work also suggests how such processes have major implications for forest carbon management, for novel biorefineries and biofuel production, and mushroom cultivation.

To read the more about the research paper visit:

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/10/05/1206847109.abstract?sid=1ec946da-af27-4c4b-9bd8-ad7970c69024 and also http://www.pnas.org/