One fungus dominates the mold wrecking China's morel crops
Wang Y, Bai M, Zhao Q, Wang L, Liu K
Foraging
If you've ever paid a premium for dried morels at a specialty grocer, this disease is part of why they're pricey, and pinpointing its main cause could make future harvests more reliable.
Morel mushrooms are tricky to farm, and a fuzzy white mold has been wiping out crops across China's morel farms. Researchers collected over 800 sick mushrooms from 64 farms and discovered that one specific fungus, Clonostachys rosea, is responsible for most of the damage, while a few related but rarer fungal cousins also play a smaller role. Knowing which fungus is the main troublemaker gives farmers a clearer target for fighting back.
Key Findings
832 diseased morel fruiting bodies were collected from 64 locations across 16 Chinese provinces, yielding 60 Clonostachys isolates representing four species.
Clonostachys rosea accounted for 81.7% of isolates, was widely distributed, and caused mold symptoms in pathogenicity tests.
Clonostachys chloroleuca and C. farinosa are newly reported on morels in China, while both they and C. solani showed lower frequency and weaker pathogenicity than C. rosea.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists surveyed diseased morel mushroom farms across China and found that a fungus called Clonostachys rosea is the main culprit behind a destructive 'white mold' disease, which could help growers target treatments more effectively.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Clonostachys Species Associated with White Mold Disease of Cultivated Morels in China.
Morels (Morchella spp.) are among the most widely cultivated edible mushrooms in China, but rapid expansion of production has been accompanied by rising incidence of white mold disease (WMD), reduc...
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Morchella, the true morels, is a genus of edible sac fungi closely related to anatomically simpler cup fungi in the order Pezizales. These distinctive fungi have a honeycomb appearance due to the network of ridges with pits composing their caps.