Agaricus blazei (Murrill) ss. Heinem. is a Brazilian native mushroom which has called the attention of several researchers all over the world due to its nutritional and pharmacological properties. The objective of this study was to evaluate the genetic variability of some isolates commercially used, using RAPD markers. Nine isolates of A. blazei were analyzed, from different regions in the country, and two isolates of the A. bisporus, which served as control group. All of them are part of the collection of mushroom of the Edible and Medicinal Mushroom Laboratory of DBI/UFLA. For RAPD analysis, different random primers were used, generating 139 polymorphic bands. The genetic similarity evaluation was proceeded between the isolates by means of Dice coefficient and grouping analysis through the UPGMA method. The results showed that from the 9 isolates of A. blazei, 6 (CS1, CS3, CS4, CS6, CS8 e CS9) have shown a high genetic similarity and these were considered isolates of the same origin or clones. The CS2 was the isolate which showed the higher genetic divergence in relation to the others, followed by the CS5 and CS7, with averages of 60.6%, 88.7% and 91.3% genetic similarity, respectively.
Variability; RAPD; Mushroom; Agaricus blazei
