ISRAEL JOURNAL OF PLANT SCIENCES, cilt.56, sa.4, ss.303-308, 2008 (SCI-Expanded)
Over the last two decades, mushroom growing has become one of the most dynamically developing fields of agriculture in Turkey. The white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus (Lange) Imbach, accounts for up to 95% of total mushroom production value, while Pleurotus, Lentinus, Grifola, Ganoderma, Flammulina, Hericium, and Auricularia are the main specialty genera cultivated. Major insect pests are cecidomyiid, sciarid, and phorid flies, with Megaselia halterata (Wood) (Diptera: Phoridae) being the most common species from April to October. While the most serious fungal pathogens affecting the cultivation of A. bisporus in Turkey are Mycogone perniciosa Magn. (wet bubble disease), Verticillium fungicola (Pretiss.) Hassebt. (dry bubble disease), Trichoderma spp. (green molds), and Dactylium dendroides (Bulliard) Fries (cobweb disease), Bacterial blotch, caused by Pseudomonas tolaasii Paine, is the most common bacterial disease on cultivated mushroom, A. bisporus.