Use of intersimple sequence repeats markers to develop strain-specific SCAR markers for Lentinula edodes

Although Lentinula edodes is the second most important cultivated mushroom worldwide, most industrially cultivated strains have been identified only through traditional phenotypic analysis. Here, we report for the first time the use of sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) markers for strain differentiation. SCAR markers were created by first generating and sequencing single intersimple sequence repeats fragments, and then designing primers based on these sequences to amplify strain-specific fragments of a certain size. One SCAR primer pair, ISL450F/R7 (amplifying a band of c. 450 bp), was designed to identify one strain of L. edodes (strain No. 7). The SCAR primer pair was then used to correctly amplify the single unique fragment from DNA samples taken from a total of 85 strains representing three separate species. Our data provide the foundation for a precise and rapid PCR-based strain-diagnostic system for L. edodes.