Abstract

Mushrooms vary according to species, strain, environment and growth conditions. This research highlights the morphological and restriction analysis of three wild Agaricus species in Northern, Nigeria. A survey of mushrooms in Zaria, Nigeria was carried out within the months of May through October 2018. During the survey, Agaricus Silvicola, Agaricus alphitochrous and Agaricus diminitivus were encountered and their photographs were taken in their habitats using digital camera. Morphological descriptions and identifications of the three Agaricus species were carried out using mushroom field guides. Spore prints were collected and pure mycelia cultures were developed for genotyping. The genomic DNA of the Agaricus mushroom was extracted. Restriction digests using Mbo1, Saq 1 and Taq 1 showed different bandings patterns across the Agaricus species that revealed variation in the morphological characters of wild Agaricus species and this confirmed that the Agaricus species are new additions to the Nigerian mushroom biodiversity. Morphological and restriction digest of wild Agaricus have showed genetic relatedness that revealed taxonomic characters in the study that placed them in different species. The study may serve as baseline information for further studies on the taxonomy of other genera of mushrooms in Nigeria.