Green mould contamination of Pleurotus pulmonarius cultivation in Malaysia: Unravelling causal agents and water source as critical factors.

Green mould contamination causes a significant challenge to mushroom growers in Malaysia leading to reduced yields and economic losses in the widely cultivated and marketed edible grey oyster mushroom, Pleurotus pulmanorius. This study aimed to identify the causal agents of green mould contaminants and determine the critical points in the cultivation process in the farm that contribute to green mould contamination. Samples of mushroom substrate (sawdust), spawn substrate (corn), environmental sources and tools were collected at different stages of mushroom cultivation.

Dynamics of fungal and bacterial microbiome associated with green-mould contaminated sawdust substrate of Pleurotus pulmonarius (grey oyster mushroom).

Aims: Green-mould contamination is identified as one of the challenges faced by mushroom cultivation industry globally which believed to be caused by Trichoderma spp.

Methods And Results: To explore the dynamics of microbial population in mushroom substrate during commercial mushroom cultivation and how microbiota might play a role in green-mould contamination, we applied both culturing and targeted metagenomics approaches to identify microbiota in noncomposted sawdust substrates at different cultivation stages. The microbiological analysis showed that the green-mould contaminated substrates harboured higher total mesophilic bacteria count.