Invasive ectomycorrhizal fungi can disperse in the absence of their known vectors

Cortinarius alpinus as an example for morphological and phylogenetic species concepts in ectomycorrhizal fungiExtensive morphological and molecular analyses of closely related species from alpine, subalpine and montane habitats should enable a comparison of ecological, morphological and phylogenetic species concepts in ectomycorrhizal mushrooms. One fundamental question of this study was whether alpine species really exist, and which criteria, besides the specific habitat, could reliably be used for the de-limitation of such taxa. For this reason, 56 rDNA ITS sequences were generated or downloaded from GenBank for 10 closely related species of Cortinarius subgenus Myxacium, section Myxacium. Several collections were sequenced for each of the following taxa: Cortinarius absarokensis, C. alpinus, C. favrei, C. fennoscandicus, C. grallipes, C. mucosus, C. muscigenus, C. septentrionalis, C. trivialis and C. vernicosus. Moreover, spore statistics were carried out for 38 collections of alpine and subalpine taxa. These data provide clear evidence for C. favrei being a synonym of C. alpinus. C. absarokensis and C. alpinus can clearly be delimited based on pileus diameter and average dry weight per basidiome, even in overlapping habitats, but spore size and shape is not a good distinguishing character. Phylograms have very short branches, and base differences between ITS sequences are generally very low in this group, and give no resolution for the included taxa of this section. Based on these results, species concepts of ectomycorrhizal mushrooms are discussed in detail.

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Ectomycorrhizal Fungi Associated with Pinus densiflora Seedlings under Flooding Stress

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13084367 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (8) ◽

pp. 4367

Author(s):

Yoonhee Cho ◽

Shinnam Yoo ◽

Myung Soo Park ◽

Ji Seon Kim ◽

Chang Sun Kim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ectomycorrhizal Fungi ◽

Internal Transcribed Spacer ◽

Pinus Densiflora ◽

Red Pine ◽

Fungal Communities ◽

Thelephora Terrestris ◽

Suillus Luteus ◽

Flooding Stress ◽

Pine Seedlings ◽

Rhizopogon Luteolus

Flooding is an environmental stress for plants that not only limits aeration and nutrient acquisition, but also disturbs underground plant-associated fungal communities. Despite frequent flooding, red pine (Pinus densiflora) seedlings thrive in streamside environments. However, whether the compatible ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) of red pine are affected by natural flooding is unclear. As EMF are vital symbionts for the development of many trees and allow them to overcome various environmental stresses, in this study, the EMF species associated with red pine seedlings in a streamside environment in Korea were investigated after flooding. The EMF species in 47 seedlings collected from the streamside site were identified by observing their different morphotypes using internal transcribed spacer sequence analysis, and a total of 10 EMF species were identified. The EMF species diversity was lower than that in samples collected from a nearby forest analyzed as a control. The dominant EMF species of streamside seedlings included Amphinema spp., Rhizopogon luteolus, Suillus luteus, and Thelephora terrestris. This study could serve as a basis for investigating the mechanisms by which advantageous EMF aid plant development under flooding stress.

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Lack of Linkages among Fruiting Depth, Weight, and Maturity in Irrigated Truffle Fungi Marks the Complexity of Relationships among Morphogenetic Stages

Journal of Fungi ◽

10.3390/jof7020102 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 102

Author(s):

Sergi Garcia-Barreda ◽

Sergio Sánchez ◽

Pedro Marco ◽

Gian Maria Niccolò Benucci ◽

Vicente González

Keyword(s):

Quality Management ◽

Path Analysis ◽

Ectomycorrhizal Fungi ◽

Formation Process ◽

Positive Relationship ◽

Tuber Melanosporum ◽

Model Species ◽

Black Truffle ◽

Development Stages ◽

Cultivation Practices

The highly prized black truffle (Tuber melanosporum) has become a model species for ectomycorrhizal fungi biology. However, several questions concerning its reproductive phase remain unanswered. To provide new hypotheses on the fruitbody formation process, we have explored the causal links among development characters of black truffle fruitbodies that are primarily linked to either the mating process, fruitbody growing stage, or maturation. Path analysis was applied to test causal models outlining the relationships among fruitbody development characters such as fruiting depth, weight, shape, and spore maturity. These characters were investigated over a two-season survey and three soil typologies (plus peat-based substrate) under irrigated conditions. We found a clear and generalized relationship between fruitbody weight and shape. Among clusters of fruitbodies we found a positive relationship between the weight of the largest fruitbody and the weight of the remaining fruitbodies. However, no generalized relationships among characters linked to different development stages appeared. Our results were noticeably consistent across soil typologies, both for fruitbodies growing singly and in clusters, indicating that early-developing fruitbody characters did not influence characters linked to subsequent morphogenetic stages. The lack of links among stages opens new perspectives for pre-harvest quality management with stage-specific cultivation practices.

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