The transcriptional regulator c2h2 accelerates mushroom formation in Agaricus bisporus

The Cys2His2 zinc finger protein gene c2h2 of Schizophyllum commune is involved in mushroom formation. Its inactivation results in a strain that is arrested at the stage of aggregate formation. In this study, the c2h2 orthologue of Agaricus bisporus was over-expressed in this white button mushroom forming basidiomycete using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Morphology, cap expansion rate, and total number and biomass of mushrooms were not affected by over-expression of c2h2. However, yield per day of the c2h2 over-expression strains peaked 1 day earlier. These data and expression analysis indicate that C2H2 impacts timing of mushroom formation at an early stage of development, making its encoding gene a target for breeding of commercial mushroom strains.