Coffee Break Seminar: Fantastic fungi and how to keep them healthy

Duration: 51 mins 48 secs

Share this media item:

Embed this media item:

<iframe width="_width_" height="_height_" src="https://sms.cam.ac.uk/media/4277688/embed" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Choose size:

About this item

Available Formats

About this item

Description:	Short presentation followed by Q&A with Dr Jessica Bergman (Dept of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge) on Fantastic fungi and how to keep them healthy. Coffee Break Seminars are a relaxed online learning and discussion platform for our food security community. Talks take place every Friday during term time at 2pm, UK time. https://www.globalfood.cam.ac.uk/coffee-break-seminars Date: Friday, 12 May, 2023 - 14:00 to 15:00 Event location: on-line

Description:

Short presentation followed by Q&A with Dr Jessica Bergman (Dept of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge) on Fantastic fungi and how to keep them healthy. Coffee Break Seminars are a relaxed online learning and discussion platform for our food security community. Talks take place every Friday during term time at 2pm, UK time.

https://www.globalfood.cam.ac.uk/coffee-break-seminars

Date: Friday, 12 May, 2023 - 14:00 to 15:00
Event location: on-line


Created:	2023-05-19 16:20
Collection:	Global Food Security
Publisher:	University of Cambridge
Copyright:	University of Cambridge
Language:	eng (English)


Abstract:	Mushroom farming has increased approximately 20 times since the 1960s. The most commonly commercially cultivated mushroom, Agaricus (button mushroom, chestnut mushroom, portobello mushroom etc.) is susceptible to, among other things, spoilage due to infections by the Gram-negative bacterial pathogen, Pseudomonas tolaasii. This pathogen causes brown blotch disease in mushrooms which can have significant impacts on mushroom shelf life, consumer acceptability and, thus, commercial value. As there are other bacterial species that promote mushroom pinning and growth, the casing material used for mushroom cultivation cannot simply be sterilized in order to avoid infections. Bacteriophages (phages) are viruses that infect bacterial cells but are harmless to plants and animals. To address the problem with bacterial brown blotch on mushrooms we have isolated a series of phages from the natural environment that can infect and kill P. tolaasii. We have characterised these phages in terms of their morphology by electron microscopy, and by analysis of their genomes. The phages investigated thus far are members of two distinct genera, the Vicosavirus phages and the Ghunavirus phages, and representatives from both groups show promise as potential biocontrol agents when tested in mushroom infection assays.

Abstract:

Mushroom farming has increased approximately 20 times since the 1960s. The most commonly commercially cultivated mushroom, Agaricus (button mushroom, chestnut mushroom, portobello mushroom etc.) is susceptible to, among other things, spoilage due to infections by the Gram-negative bacterial pathogen, Pseudomonas tolaasii. This pathogen causes brown blotch disease in mushrooms which can have significant impacts on mushroom shelf life, consumer acceptability and, thus, commercial value. As there are other bacterial species that promote mushroom pinning and growth, the casing material used for mushroom cultivation cannot simply be sterilized in order to avoid infections.

Bacteriophages (phages) are viruses that infect bacterial cells but are harmless to plants and animals. To address the problem with bacterial brown blotch on mushrooms we have isolated a series of phages from the natural environment that can infect and kill P. tolaasii. We have characterised these phages in terms of their morphology by electron microscopy, and by analysis of their genomes. The phages investigated thus far are members of two distinct genera, the Vicosavirus phages and the Ghunavirus phages, and representatives from both groups show promise as potential biocontrol agents when tested in mushroom infection assays.

Available Formats

Format	Quality	Bitrate	Size
MPEG-4 Video	704x360	945.83 kbits/sec	358.84 MB	View	Download
WebM	704x360	344.23 kbits/sec	130.64 MB	View	Download
iPod Video	480x360	477.28 kbits/sec	181.08 MB	View	Download
MP3	44100 Hz	249.74 kbits/sec	94.87 MB	Listen	Download
Auto *	(Allows browser to choose a format it supports)