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Type: Article
Published: 2016-08-17
Page range: 71–88
Abstract views: 29
PDF downloaded: 0

A molecular analysis reveals hidden species diversity within the current concept of Russula maculata (Russulaceae, Basidiomycota)

Institute of Botany, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, SK-845 23, Bratislava, Slovakia
Institute of Botany, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, SK-845 23, Bratislava, Slovakia
Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart, Rosenstein 1, D-70191 Stuttgart, Germany
Farlow Herbarium of Cryptogamic Botany, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Ghent University, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Gent, Belgium
Institute of Botany, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, SK-845 23, Bratislava, Slovakia
Körnerstraße 34, D-04107 Leipzig, Germany
Zehentbauernstr. 15, D-81539 München, Germany
Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Botany, Révová 39, SK-811 02 Bratislava, Slovakia
Farlow Herbarium of Cryptogamic Botany, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Department of Botany, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore 54590, Pakistan
Institute of Microbiology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Vídeňská 1083, CZ-142 20 Praha 4, Czech republic
Institute of Botany, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, SK-845 23, Bratislava, Slovakia
Ghent University, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Gent, Belgium
DNA barcode ectomycorrhizal fungi morphology Pakistan Fungi

Abstract

The current generally accepted concept of Russula maculata defines the species by yellow-brownish spots on the basidiomata, an acrid taste, a yellow spore print and a red pileus. This concept was tested using collections originating from various geographical areas mainly in Europe. Analyses of the ITS region suggested that there were three species within this broad concept. One of them, R. maculata, was identified based on the sequence from the epitype. Two other species, R. nympharum and R. sp., are described here as newly identified species. The European species R. maculata and R. nympharum grow in deciduous forests, are similar in their field aspect and are distinctly different in micro-morphological characteristics of spores, pleurocystidia and pileipellis. An Asian species, R. sp., is associated with pine and has smaller basidiomata and spores. These three species form the R. maculata complex and represent the sister clade to the R. globispora complex. This clade consists of species also characterized by a yellow-brownish context discolouration but with a different type of spore ornamentation. All of the other tested species had an acrid taste and yellow spore print but did not have a conspicuous yellow-brownish context discolouration and were placed in various unrelated clades.