Brown mushrooms for commercial production

1. A hybrid Agaricus bisporus mushroom strain, wherein the hybrid strain is a cross of a mushroom of wild strain AA-0096 with an Agaricus bisporus bridging cross strain, wherein the bridging cross strain is a cross of a commercial white Agaricus bisporus strain and a commercial brown Agaricus bisporus strain not derived from wild strain AA-0096, wherein a representative culture of said wild strain AA-0096 is available from ATCC under Accession No. PTA-6903 and wherein said hybrid has at least one physical characteristic selected from the group consisting of a darker cap color, a thicker cap, and a higher productivity as compared to the corresponding physical characteristics of comparison strain Amycel 2400.

2. The hybrid strain of claim 1 , wherein said hybrid strain is a progeny of AA-0096 and has at least one RAPD, SCAR or RFLP band in common with strain AA-0096 that is not present as a corresponding RAPD, SCAR or RFLP band from commercial brown Agaricus bisporus strain Amycel 2400, or at least one RAPD, SCAR or RFLP band in common with Agaricus bisporus bridging cross strain 4x29 that is not present as a corresponding RAPD, SCAR or RFLP band from strain AA-0096, and wherein a representative culture of said bridging cross strain 4x29 is available from ATCC under Accession No. PTA-6877.

3. The hybrid strain of claim 2 , wherein said hybrid strain further comprises at least five RAPD or two RFLP or SCAR bands in common with strain AA-0096 that are not present as corresponding RAPD, RFLP or SCAR bands from commercial brown Agaricus bisporus strain Amycel 2400.

4. The hybrid strain of claim 1 , wherein said hybrid strain comprises at least one RAPD+ marker present in strain BR06 as shown in Table 1, and wherein a representative culture of said strain BR06 is available from ATCC under Accession No. PTA-6876.

5. The hybrid strain of claim 1 , wherein said hybrid strain has all genetic characteristics of strain BR06, and wherein a representative culture of said strain BR06 is available from ATCC under Accession No. PTA-6876.

6. A hybrid mushroom culture of Agaricus bisporus, wherein the hybrid mushroom culture is a cross of a first culture of Agaricus bisporus with a second culture of Agaricus bisporus, wherein said first culture of Agaricus bisporus is a wild strain designated AA-0096, a representative culture of said wild strain AA-0096 available from ATCC under Accession No. PTA-6903, wherein said second culture of Agaricus bisporus is a culture of an Agaricus bisporus bridging cross strain, and wherein the bridging cross strain is a cross of a commercial white Agaricus bisporus strain and a commercial brown Agaricus bisporus strain not derived from wild strain AA-0096, wherein said culture produces a mushroom having at least one physical characteristic selected from the group consisting of a darker cap color, a thicker cap, and a higher productivity as compared to the corresponding physical characteristics of comparison strain Amycel 2400.

7. The hybrid mushroom culture of claim 6 , wherein said commercial white Agaricus bisporus strain is U1, U3, a U1 derivative, or a Horst U1/U3 hybrid.

8. The hybrid mushroom culture of claim 6 , wherein said hybrid mushroom culture produces mushrooms having a brown color darker than commercial brown Agaricus bisporus strain Amycel 2400.

9. The hybrid mushroom culture of claim 6 , wherein said hybrid mushroom culture exhibits antagonism toward strains in a Horst U1/U3 lineage group or to commercial brown Agaricus bisporus strain Amycel 2400.

10. Inoculum comprising the hybrid mushroom culture of claim 6 .

11. Mushroom spawn comprising the inoculum of claim 10 .

12. Casing inoculant comprising the inoculum of claim 10 .

13. Homokaryons derived from the hybrid mushroom culture of claim 6 .

14. Mushrooms produced by fruiting of the hybrid mushroom culture of claim 6 .

15. A method of producing commercial brown mushrooms, which comprises: inoculating a mushroom growth medium with the hybrid Agaricus bisporus mushroom strain of claim 1 ; maintaining said inoculated growth medium under conditions conducive to mushroom fruiting; and collecting mushrooms from said growth medium.

16. The hybrid strain of claim 1 , wherein said commercial white Agaricus bisporus strain is U1, U3, a U1 derivative, or a Horst U1/U3 hybrid and said commercial brown Agaricus bisporus strain is Amycel 2400.

17. The hybrid strain of claim 1 , wherein said bridging cross strain is a 4x29 strain available from ATCC under Accession No. PTA-6877.

18. The hybrid strain of claim 1 , wherein said hybrid strain has a mean reflectance of less than 60%.

19. The hybrid strain of claim 1 , wherein said hybrid strain has a total crop yield that is equal to or higher than the total crop yield of commercial brown Agaricus bisporus strain Amycel 2400 when grown under similar conditions.

20. The hybrid strain of claim 1 , wherein said hybrid strain has a cap shape that is higher than the cap shape of commercial brown Agaricus bisporus strain Amycel 2400 when grown under similar conditions and harvested at the same time.

21. The hybrid strain of claim 1 , wherein said hybrid strain is genetically non-compatible with commercial brown Agaricus bisporus strain Amycel 2400.

22. The hybrid mushroom culture of claim 6 , wherein said bridging cross strain is a 4x29 strain available from ATCC under Accession No. PTA-6877.

23. An Agaricus bisporus BR06 mushroom strain or a homokaryon derived thereof, wherein a representative culture of said BR06 is available from ATCC under Accession No. PTA-6876.