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Issue: Vol. 468 No. 1: 23 October 2020
Type: Article
Published: 2020-10-23
DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.468.1.3
Page range: 62–74
Abstract views: 24
PDF downloaded: 1

Diversispora valentina (Diversisporaceae), a new species of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi from the Mediterranean sand dunes of Spain

University Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine (BIOTECMED) and Department of Plant Biology, University of Valencia, Burjassot, 46100, Spain.
University Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine (BIOTECMED) and Department of Plant Biology, University of Valencia, Burjassot, 46100, Spain.
Department of Botany and Geology, University of Valencia, Burjassot, 46100, Spain; *Current address, Department of Health Sciences, Technical University of Loja, Loja, 1101608, Ecuador.
University Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine (BIOTECMED) and Department of Plant Biology, University of Valencia, Burjassot, 46100, Spain.
Glomeromycota molecular phylogeny mycorrhizae Fungi

Abstract

A new arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal species, Diversispora valentina, is described and illustrated. In the field, this species is associated with marine dunes located along the Mediterranean coast in eastern Spain. Spores of D. valentina occurred in sporocarps, in clusters, and singly in the soil or inside the roots of Ammophila arenaria (Poaceae), Elymus farctus (Poaceae), Otanthus maritimus (Asteraceae), and Echinophora spinosa (Apiaceae) in the six locations studied. A single-species culture of D. valentina was obtained using Trifolium repens as a host plant. The small subunit internal transcribed spacer and large subunit (SSU-ITS1-5.8S-ITS2-LSU) nrDNA sequences place the new species in the genus Diversispora and suggest that it differs from any previously described species. The novelty of this species is supported by morphological, molecular, and phylogenetic analyses.