Morphological and molecular data for Australian Hebeloma species do not support the generic status of Anamika

Revisiting Hebeloma (Hymenogastraceae, Agaricales) in Japan: four species recombined into other genera but three new species discovered

Here, we present the results of studies of Japanese Hebeloma collections. The four species described by Imai as Hebeloma (H. fimicola, H. helvolescens, H. humosum, and H. tomoeae) are not from the genus Hebeloma, but are members of Agrocybe, Homophron, or Pholiota. Recombinations are made. Hebelomacrustuliniforme f. microspermum, described by Hongo, is a synonym of H. nanum. Three species of Hebeloma are described as new to science, all currently known only from Japan. Two of these species, H. asperosporum and H. cinnamomeum, are members of H. sect. Denudata while the third species H. citrisporum belongs to H. sect. Velutipes. Japanese records of H. cavipes, H. eburneum, H. hygrophilum, H. subtortum, and H. velutipes are validated. In total, fifteen species of Hebeloma are confirmed from Japan; this is compared with previous checklists.

Hebeloma in the Malay Peninsula: Masquerading within Psathyrella

In 1994 Corner published five new species within the genus Psathyrella, all having been collected on the Malay Peninsula between 1929 and 1930. Three of these species belong to the genus Hebeloma and with their vinaceous colored lamellae and spore print, when fresh, they belong to H.sect.Porphyrospora. Of these three species, only one, P.flavidifolia, was validly published and thus we herewith recombine it as H.flavidifolium. The other two species, P.splendens and P.verrucispora, are synonyms of H.parvisporum and H.lactariolens, respectively. We also describe a new Malayan species, H.radicans, which also belongs to H.sect.Porphyrospora. These findings confirm the western Pacific Rim as a diversity hotspot for H.sect.Porphyrospora. The records described within this paper, represent the first recognition that the genus Hebeloma, and indeed that members of the ectomycorrhizal Hymenogastraceae, are present on the Malay Peninsula.

Purple haze: Cryptic purple sequestrate Cortinarius in New Zealand

CORTINARIUS

is a species-rich ectomycorrhizal genus containing taxa that exhibit agaricoid or sequestrate basidiome morphologies. In New Zealand, one of the most recognizable and common Cortinarius species is the purple sequestrate fungus, C. porphyroideus. We used genome skimming of the almost 100-y-old type specimen from C. porphyroideus to obtain the nuc rDNA internal transcribed spacer region ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 (ITS barcode) and partial nuc rDNA 28S (28S) sequences. The phylogenetic position of C. porphyroideus was established, and we found that it represents a rarely collected species. Purple sequestrate Cortinarius comprise multiple cryptic species in several lineages. We describe four new species of Cortinarius with strong morphological similarity to C. porphyroideus: Cortinarius diaphorus, C. minorisporus, C. purpureocapitatus, and C. violaceocystidiatus. Based on molecular evidence, Thaxterogaster viola is recognized as Cortinarius violaceovolvatus var. viola. These species are associated with Nothofagus (southern beech) and have very similar morphology to C. porphyroideus but are all phylogenetically distinct based on molecular data.

Fungal diversity in canopy soil of silver beech, Nothofagus menziesii (Nothofagaceae)

Adventitious roots in canopy soils associated with silver beech (Nothofagus menziesii Hook.f. (Nothofagaceae)) form ectomycorrhizal associations. We investigated the extent to which canopy ectomycorrhizal communities contribute to overall diversity of ectomycorrhizal fungi associated with silver beech. Hyphal ingrowth bags were buried for 12 months in canopy and terrestrial soils of five trees at one site. We used amplicon sequencing of the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 2 region (ITS2) to assess diversity of both ectomycorrhizal and non-ectomycorrhizal OTUs in hyphal ingrowth bags. There was a significant difference in ectomycorrhizal fungal community diversity between the terrestrial and canopy hyphal ingrowth bag communities. Ectomycorrhizal community composition of the terrestrial and canopy environments was also significantly different. Some ectomycorrhizal taxa were significantly differentially represented in either the terrestrial or canopy environment. The hyphal ingrowth bags also accumulated non-ectomycorrhizal species. The non-ectomycorrhizal fungi also had significantly different diversity and community composition between the canopy and terrestrial environments. Like the ectomycorrhizal community, some non-ectomycorrhizal taxa were significantly differentially represented in either the terrestrial or canopy environment. The canopy soil microhabitat provides a novel environment for growth of ectomycorrhizal adventitious roots and enables the spatial partitioning of ectomycorrhizal and non-ectomycorrhizal fungal diversity in the forest.

Adventurous cuisine in Laos: Hebeloma parvisporum, a new species in Hebeloma section Porphyrospora

Hebeloma parvisporum is described as new and placed within H. sect. Porphyrospora. This mushroom is sold as an edible in markets of Laos under the local name "wai khom." Hebeloma sect. Porphyrospora is discussed and expanded to include the species formerly included in the genus Anamika and recently transferred to Hebeloma. Hebeloma sect. Porphyrospora currently comprises 16 species, 14 of which are known only from the western Pacific and Indian subcontinent. All species in this section share the character of having red-brown spores when fresh, atypical for other sections of Hebeloma, which causes the lamellae to be red-brown. However, this red-brown color fades when the material is dried. The close links, morphologically and molecularly, between H. parvisporum and other members of H. sect. Porphyrospora, particularly H. victoriense, are shown.

Notes, outline and divergence times of Basidiomycota

The Basidiomycota constitutes a major phylum of the kingdom Fungi and is second in species numbers to the Ascomycota. The present work provides an overview of all validly published, currently used basidiomycete genera to date in a single document. An outline of all genera of Basidiomycota is provided, which includes 1928 currently used genera names, with 1263 synonyms, which are distributed in 241 families, 68 orders, 18 classes and four subphyla. We provide brief notes for each accepted genus including information on classification, number of accepted species, type species, life mode, habitat, distribution, and sequence information. Furthermore, three phylogenetic analyses with combined LSU, SSU, 5.8s, rpb1, rpb2, and ef1 datasets for the subphyla Agaricomycotina, Pucciniomycotina and Ustilaginomycotina are conducted, respectively. Divergence time estimates are provided to the family level with 632 species from 62 orders, 168 families and 605 genera. Our study indicates that the divergence times of the subphyla in Basidiomycota are 406–430 Mya, classes are 211–383 Mya, and orders are 99–323 Mya, which are largely consistent with previous studies. In this study, all phylogenetically supported families were dated, with the families of Agaricomycotina diverging from 27–178 Mya, Pucciniomycotina from 85–222 Mya, and Ustilaginomycotina from 79–177 Mya. Divergence times as additional criterion in ranking provide additional evidence to resolve taxonomic problems in the Basidiomycota taxonomic system, and also provide a better understanding of their phylogeny and evolution.

Genetic Analyses of the Internal Transcribed Spacer Sequences Suggest Introgression and Duplication in the Medicinal Mushroom Agaricus subrufescens

The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the nuclear ribosomal RNA gene cluster is widely used in fungal taxonomy and phylogeographic studies. The medicinal and edible mushroom Agaricus subrufescens has a worldwide distribution with a high level of polymorphism in the ITS region. A previous analysis suggested notable ITS sequence heterogeneity within the wild French isolate CA487. The objective of this study was to investigate the pattern and potential mechanism of ITS sequence heterogeneity within this strain. Using PCR, cloning, and sequencing, we identified three types of ITS sequences, A, B, and C with a balanced distribution, which differed from each other at 13 polymorphic positions. The phylogenetic comparisons with samples from different continents revealed that the type C sequence was similar to those found in Oceanian and Asian specimens of A. subrufescens while types A and B sequences were close to those found in the Americas or in Europe. We further investigated the inheritance of these three ITS sequence types by analyzing their distribution among single-spore isolates from CA487. In this analysis, three co-dominant markers were used firstly to distinguish the homokaryotic offspring from the heterokaryotic offspring. The homokaryotic offspring were then analyzed for their ITS types. Our genetic analyses revealed that types A and B were two alleles segregating at one locus ITSI, while type C was not allelic with types A and B but was located at another unlinked locus ITSII. Furthermore, type C was present in only one of the two constitutive haploid nuclei (n) of the heterokaryotic (n+n) parent CA487. These data suggest that there was a relatively recent introduction of the type C sequence and a duplication of the ITS locus in this strain. Whether other genes were also transferred and duplicated and their impacts on genome structure and stability remain to be investigated.

Six simple guidelines for introducing new genera of fungi

We formulate five guidelines for introducing new genera, plus one recommendation how to publish the results of scientific research. We recommend that reviewers and editors adhere to these guidelines. We propose that the underlying research is solid, and that the results and the final solutions are properly discussed. The six criteria are: (1) all genera that are recognized should be monophyletic; (2) the coverage of the phylogenetic tree should be wide in number of species, geographic coverage, and type species of the genera under study; (3) the branching of the phylogenetic trees has to have sufficient statistical support; (4) different options for the translation of the phylogenetic tree into a formal classification should be discussed and the final decision justified; (5) the phylogenetic evidence should be based on more than one gene; and (6) all supporting evidence and background information should be included in the publication in which the new taxa are proposed, and this publication should be peer-reviewed.

Decrypting the Hebeloma crustuliniforme complex: European species of Hebeloma section Denudata subsection Denudata (Agaricales)

Hebeloma subsection Denudata includes the type of H. section Denudata, Hebeloma crustuliniforme, as well as the majority of the taxa commonly included in the Hebeloma crustuliniforme complex. Complementing the work of D.K. Aanen and co-workers, and using refined morphological and molecular methods we were able to recognize further individual taxa within the section. Fifteen species occurring in Europe are assigned to H. subsect. Denudata. Of these, we describe eight species as new, namely H. aanenii, H. aurantioumbrinum, H. geminatum, H. louiseae, H. luteicystidiatum, H. pallidolabiatum, H. perexiguum and H. salicicola. Naucoria bellotiana, a species very similar to H. alpinum is recombined into Hebeloma. A key to Hebeloma subsect. Denudata is provided. We demonstrate that within this subsection there is good overall consistency between morphological, phylogenetic and biological species concepts. In contrast to current opinion, in this group there is little species overlap, particularly when also considering species frequencies, between arctic and alpine floras on one hand and temperate on the other.

The taxonomy of the European species of Hebeloma section Denudata subsections Hiemalia, Echinospora subsect. nov. and Clepsydroida subsect. nov. and five new species

Hebeloma section Denudata includes the majority of the taxa commonly referred to as the Hebeloma crustuliniforme complex. In a recent paper we described in detail H. subsection Denudata and fifteen European species recognised within this subsection, using morphological and molecular methods. In this paper we continue this work and describe in detail three additional subsections and several new species. Within H. subsection Hiemalia we recognise just one species, Hebeloma hiemale. Here we propose an epitype in order to unambiguously define this taxon. Nine species occurring in Europe are assigned to H. subsect. Clepsydroida, namely Hebeloma ammophilum, H. cavipes, H. fragilipes, H. ingratum, H. laetitiae, H. limbatum sp. nov., H. matritense sp. nov., H. pseudofragilipes sp. nov., and H. vaccinum. Finally, we introduce H. subsection Echinospora with three species: Hebeloma echinosporum sp. nov., H. populinum, and H. rostratum sp. nov. We provide descriptions of all three of these species in order to clarify the taxonomy of this section. We provide a key to H. sect. Denudata and the discussed subsections. For the majority of the taxa there is good overall consistency between morphological and phylogenetic delimitation and, where the information exists, thanks to Aanen and Kuyper's work, biological delimitation.

A Samoan Hebeloma with phylogenetic ties to the western Pacific

Hebeloma ifeleletorum is described as a new species from American Samoa. Based on analyses of ITS and combined nLSU-ITS datasets H. ifeleletorum clusters with but is distinct from described species that have been placed in the genus Anamika by some. The phylogenetic relationship of H. ifeleletorum to the genus Anamika from Asia and to other species from Australia and New Caledonia suggests that H. ifeleletorum has origins in the western Pacific.