A Comparative Transcriptome Analysis of <i>Volvariella volvacea</i> Identified the Candidate Genes Involved in Fast Growth at the Mycelial Growth Stage

• Main Authors: Ming Liu, Ting Yu, Puneet Kumar Singh, Qinjian Liu, Hao Liu, Qingfeng Zhu, Zitian Xiao, Jiang Xu, Yangyang Peng, Shiyu Fu, Shicheng Chen, Huanqing He
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-02-01
• Series: Genes
• Subjects: <i>volvariella volvacea</i>; transcriptome; growth performance
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/11/2/161

The edible straw mushroom, <i>Volvariella volvacea</i>, is one of the most important cultivated mushrooms in tropical and sub-tropical regions. Strain improvement for <i>V. volvacea</i> is difficult because of the unknown mechanisms involved in its growth regulation and substrate utilization. A comparative physiological and transcriptomic study was conducted between two commercially available straw mushroom strains (v9 and v26) to explore their fast-growth regulation mechanism(s). The physiological study showed that <i>V. volvacea</i> v9 had a shorter growth cycle and higher biological efficiency (4% higher) than that in v26. At least 14,556 unigenes were obtained from the four cDNA libraries (two replicates per strain). Among them, the expression of 1597 unigenes was up-regulated while 1352 were down-regulated. Four heat-shock proteins were highly expressed in v9, showing that v9 has the better ability to handle stresses and/or environmental changes. Moreover, up to 14 putative transporter genes were expressed at a higher level in v9 than those in v26, implying that v9 has a better ability to transport nutrients or export xenobiotics efficiently. Our report allows to identify the candidate genes involved in the fast growth requirement of <i>V. volvacea</i>, which represents a valuable resource for strain improvement in this commercially important edible mushroom.