TY - JOUR AU - Merkuri, Jordan AU - Mang, Stefania Mirela AU - Camele, Ippolito AU - Cara, Magdalena AU - Rana, Gian Luigi PY - 2016/03/24 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Molecular identification and artificial cultivation of a wild isolate of oyster mushroom in Albania JF - Italian Journal of Agronomy JA - Ital J Agronomy VL - 11 IS - 1 SE - Original Articles DO - 10.4081/ija.2016.704 UR - https://www.agronomy.it/agro/article/view/704 SP - 35-38 AB - Basidiomata of a wild mushroom macroscopically recognised as <em>Pleurotus ostreatus</em> were observed on an oak trunk in a mixed wood of northern Albania. Pure cultures of the fungus were then obtained on potato-dextrose-agar medium. Molecular analyses of genomic DNA of the fungus confirmed its identification. The rDNA ITS region nucleotide sequence of the studied <em>Pleurotacea</em> matched at 99% those of two <em>P. ostreatus</em> strains already present in NCBI GenBank database. The rDNA ITS nucelotide sequences of two pure cultures of the Albanian <em>P. ostreatus</em> were deposited in EMBL database under the accession numbers LN849458 and LN849459. One of the fungus isolates was subsequently cultivated under protected and semi-natural conditions. Productivity and biological efficiency of the Albanian <em>P. ostreatus</em> ranged from about 10% to 16% and from 33 to 53.33%, respectively. This seems to be the first report on the artificial cultivation of <em>P. ostreatus</em> in Albania and could have, in the next future, a high economic impact on development and diffusion of this important edible mushroom over the country. ER -