Exploring Genotype-Environment Interactions for Mushroom Breeding

As for plants and animals, the objectives of edible mushroom breeding programs are to harness natural phenotypic variations among strains and populations in order to breed superior cultivars that satisfy our needs. Effective breeding of edible mushrooms requires an understanding of the natural genotypic and phenotypic variations among strains and a breeding method that can bring the desirable genes and traits together. In this paper, we argue that genotype environment interactions(GEI)should be a key factor for consideration when breeding edible mushrooms. We provide a brief rationale, and demonstrate how experimental designs can be improved to allow accurate estimates of GEI. Using several selected edible mushroom species(Lentinula edodes, Flammulina velutipes, Agaricus bisporus)as examples, we show how effective use of GEI can generate not only novel data on the fundamental biology of these fungi but also aid the development of new cultivars for commercial production. These deliverables will serve to meet region specific cultivation restraints and minimize the adverse impacts of strain degeneration.