title: Presence of Pleurotus ostreatus in Patagonia, Argentina.
abstract: Specimens belonging to the genus Pleurotus were collected growing on fallen trunks of Araucaria araucana, a native tree with a poorly known mycoflora, which grows in Patagonia, Argentina. Fruitbodies were produced in culture on sawdust from an isolated strain. Interspecific pairing tests performed between mating types of Pleurotus from Patagonia and tester strains of P. pulmonarius and P. ostreatus showed the Patagonia strain to be 100% compatible with P. ostreatus and incompatible with P. pulmonarius. Dikaryons obtained on sawdust were fertile, since they were able to produce fruitbodies and viable spores. This is the first documented record of P. ostreatus from Argentina and the first gilled fungus found growing on Araucaria araucana.
authors.affiliation: PRHIDEB-CONICET, Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Bernardo Ernesto
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Lechner
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Petersen
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rajchenberg
authors.forename: Edgardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Albertó