Diseases of mushrooms

Diseases of mushrooms

Fungal diseases.
Even though the mushroom itself is a fungus, it can in turn be affected by a range of fungal pathogens, listed below in Table 1.

Table 1. Fungal diseases of mushrooms

Disease	Other names	Symptoms
Dactylium	Cobweb, mildew	White to pink cobweb-like fluffy mould.
Diehlomyces	Calves brains / false truffle	A competing fungus which produces brain-shaped fruiting bodies.
Fusarium	Damping off	Mushrooms wither.
Mycogone	Wet bubble / white mould	Dense white growth on gills.
Papulaspora	Brown plaster mould	Brown plaster-like patches on casing.
Scopulariopsis	White plaster mould	White plaster-like patches on casing.
Trichoderma	Green mould	Dark green mould patches on casing spreading to lesions on stems.
Verticillium	Dry bubble / brown spot	Brown irregular pitted areas on stems and caps. Distortion and splitting.

Bacterial diseases

Pseudomonas (bacterial spot, bacterial or pit or brown blotch), causes yellow to brown blotches on the cap which may exude sticky residues. Early symptoms are similar to verticilium.

Other diseases

A range of viral diseases attack mushrooms. Fruiting bodies that are either noticeably elongated or flattened, or gradually decreasing crops or flushes should be examined. If viral diseases are suspected, professional advice on eradication should be sought.

Management
Maintaining high levels of hygiene will assist any pest management program by reducing the number of problems that are likely to occur. If an outbreak does occur, ensure that the pest or disease is correctly identified before taking any action.

Diseases of mushrooms